- Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has produced what he says is proof that the collapsed Eastleigh building received county approval in February 2024
- Governor Johnson Sakaja maintained the county only approved a change of use, not the architectural plans for the multi-storey structure
- Sixty-seven workers were accounted for after the building came down on Friday, with rescue teams working to reach those believed to be trapped
Nancy Odindo is a Current Affairs Editor at TUKO.co.ke, covering general news. Odindo has over six years of journalism experience and joined TUKO.co.ke in 2023.
Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino has released what he claims is an official approval document for the multi-storey building that collapsed in Eastleigh, Nairobi, on Friday, October 23.
Source: Facebook
His post directly contradicts Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja's public statement that no construction plans had been sanctioned by the county.
What Babu's document entails
Babu, posting on Facebook on Sunday, October 25, shared a document showing Application No. PLUPA-COU-000821-N, issued under the Physical and Land Use Planning Act (No. 13 of 2019).
Search option is now available at TUKO! Feel free to search the content on topics/people you enjoy reading about in the top right corner ;)
The document names Sakina Star Ltd as the applicant and records an approval date of 13th February 2024 for a development on Plot LR. No. 36/II/40, 9th Street, Eastleigh, Kamukunji Sub-county. The proposed development included 35 residential units, a restaurant, a mosque, and shops.
"For permission to develop proposed 35 units 1 no three bedroom, 22 no two bedroom, 12 no one bedroom restaurant, mosque and shops residential development on plot lR. No. 36/II/40 9 Th Street Eastleigh. L.R. / Parcel No 36/II/40 with Coordinates -1.2740, 36.8335. Situated in Eastleigh in Kamukunji Sub-county along 9th Street has been approved on 13th February 2024 by the Urban Planning Technical Committee tabled under Item No 2," the document read.
Babu called on Sakaja for allegedly lying to the public, stating that "he approved the construction."
"Sakaja lied to Kenyans that the building in Eastleigh that collapsed had no approval. I have posted the approval that was done on February 13, 2024. This is a big joke from the incompetent Sakaja. He must take responsibility for this tragedy after collecting a bribe of KSh 120 million," he alleged.
Source: Facebook
What Sakaja said about collapsed Eastleigh building
Governor Sakaja previously said the county had only granted a change of use, converting the plot from residential to commercial-residential, approved on 17th October 2024.
He said an application submitted in 2024 sought to construct a 15-floor building with a basement, but that the county never approved the architectural plans. By the time the structure collapsed, it had already risen to 18 floors, he added.
The contradictory accounts have put pressure on county authorities to clarify the full paper trail behind the doomed project.
Workers at collapsed Eastleigh building accounted for
Meanwhile, Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen confirmed that 67 construction workers were on site when the building came down on Friday afternoon.
Of those, 66 escaped without injury, and one was hospitalised in a stable condition. Seven people, however, were missing.
Eleven shops on the ground floor and in the basement were occupied at the time of the collapse, and rescue teams established voice contact with some of those believed to be trapped beneath the rubble, with operations still ongoing.
Source: TUKO.co.ke