Authorities known for knee-jerk reactions after building tragedies

If implemented, a report tabled in Parliament last week may redeem the image of a government known for tearing down a handful of structures after a building collapses then quickly going to slumber until tragedy strikes again.

The report mentions buildings so far demolished for flouting regulations.

They include Ukay Centre in Westlands, Taj Mall in Pipeline, Shell petrol station and Java coffee shop in Kileleshwa, and residential properties in Kariobangi South, Huruma, Komarock and other estates in Nairobi.

TRAGEDY

No explanation has been given as to why authorities went on a demolition spree between June and September 2018 before the exercise was mysteriously halted. Had the demolitions continued, other buildings listed in the report would have been brought down.

The structures are in Nairobi’s Huruma, Zimmerman and Pipeline estates. The Angels Bay resort in Malindi was also to be demolished.

Perhaps another tragedy will jolt State officials to action.

Incidentally, the report tabled in Parliament has its origins in a January 2015 collapse of a seven-storey building in Huruma Estate, which claimed at least five lives. President Kenyatta immediately ordered an audit, which led to the creation of the National Buildings Inspectorate. It went round the country, inspecting structures.

INSPECTORATE

The inspectorate had representation from 18 government entities, among them the National Youth Service, the Public Works Ministry, the National Construction Authority and the National Environment Management Authority.

Mr Kenyatta’s directive was not the knee-jerk reaction from the government on unsafe structures.

In 2011 when two buildings collapsed in Embakasi and Lang’ata in quick succession, the then Nairobi City Council started marking unapproved structures.

Acting mayor George Aladwa – now Makadara MP – said structures found to be unsound would be brought down. Little came out of that declaration.

In January 2013 when a five-storey building collapsed in Kisumu killing seven people, Nyanza Provincial Commissioner Francis Mutie vowed “a serious crackdown” against unfit buildings. The country is still waiting.

STATE AGENCIES

In the recent past, Kisumu and Kisii counties have been shaken by a series demolitions carried out by State agencies.

In Kisumu, a number of businesses were flattened in September as authorities cleared land said to have been hived off Kenya Railways Corporation property. The report says 9,970 structures have been cleared from railway and road reserves.

In Kisii, more than 100 houses on River Nyakomisaro were flattened.