The landlady of the six-storey residential building that collapsed in Tassia is well known to the ‘big fish’ and may not be arrested any time soon, a police source has said.
The death toll from the killer building rose to 10 on Sunday with the rescue operation officially closing on Monday afternoon.
Residents have demanded the owner of the building be arrested.
“The lady who owns the building and many other buildings around the city is well known to the high and mighty. There is no office in this land which she doesn’t get into,” the police source revealed to the media in confidence.
The police also who refused to reveal the woman’s identity also said that the building was in a precarious shape months before it collapsed and he wondered why tenants did not vacate.
A two-storey mabati structure that was next to the collapsed building was pulled down during the rescue operations and people living in neighboring houses were ordered to vacate.
The Association of Construction Managers of Kenya blamed the tragedy on corrupt government agencies who pocket bribes and fail on their supervision job.
ACMK chairman Nashon Okowa said the National Building Inspectorate should make public a report on unsafe buildings in Nairobi to avoid these kinds of tragedies that are now becoming rampant.
He recommended that such buildings should be publicised in the local dailies to sensitize the public to avoid residing in such dangareous buildings.
He said the National Construction Authority should take responsibility for the collapse of buildings across the country.
as he continued to blame NCA for laxity, Okoa pointed that there are laws but some people are sleeping on the job.
County governments that issue approvals and are also mandated by the law to supervise construction of houses at different stages.
