Unlicensed contractor targeted in Nairobi building collapse inquiry
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Citizen Digital
An investigation into the collapse of an 18-storey building in Eastleigh, Nairobi, is examining the possible involvement of an unregistered contractor. The director of Stromax Holdings E.A. Limited and his brother are blaming each other for the project, according to Citizen TV.
An investigation into the collapse of an 18-storey building in Eastleigh, Nairobi, is examining the possible role of an unlicensed contractor. The director of Stromax Holdings E.A. Limited, a company listed by Kenya’s National Construction Authority (NCA) as responsible for the project, says he was not involved in the work, Citizen Digital reports.
In his statement to police, the director said his brother had asked him to use the company’s details to obtain NCA approvals. He said he agreed and replied to the authority’s emails, confirming that Stromax was carrying out the project. His brother, by contrast, claims that the company hired him as a subcontractor to supervise masonry and steelwork, with an engineer responsible for monitoring and approving the work.
More than 20 people have already given statements to police, including one of the three developers. The landowners are also due to be questioned. They had submitted two permit applications and paid 1.1 million Kenyan shillings to Nairobi County. The file nevertheless remained pending on the national planning system after the project manager failed to respond to four objections from the county.
On the same Friday, rescue teams recovered a woman’s remains from the basement at about 6.30am, after an operation carried out overnight. The discovery came after a first body was recovered, announced on 30 October.
