Developer of collapsed Mirema building arrested

One person has been arrested and arraigned after a residential building in Roysambu's Mirema Drive collapsed on Sunday.

In a statement to newsrooms on Tuesday, Nairobi City County Acting County Secretary Patrick Analo confirmed the incident, adding that the suspect remains in police custody.

"I hereby confirm that a building for development of Flats was being erected on LR no. 7960/80 located along Mirema Springs Estate, on Mirema Drive, in Roysambu Sub County, under construction by and owned by Joseph Wakiri as per records in our possession collapsed at around midnight on 24th September 2023," stated Mr. Analo.

"The contractor/developer has since been arrested and arraigned in court and given cash bail of Kes. 500,000/- he is currently remanded in Nairobi west remand prison."

Mr. Analo added that the Nairobi County government’s urban planning department had approved application for development of the building, but that the developer went about it contrary to section 16 of the Building Code & Physical & Land Use Planning Act (2019).

"The developer had resisted past attempts for arrest by authorities and arraignment in court for illegalities,” stated the County Secretary.

“The Nairobi City County Government has since secured the site and taken samples to the National Building Inspectorate (NBI) for testing and results expected as soon as possible."

He added: "The county government has also established that there was no evidence of supervision from both the Architect and Engineer."