Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has pledged to pay for the funeral expenses of eight children that lost their lives after classroom walls caved in at Precious Talent Primary School Nairobi.
Sonko also reiterated that he would fire county officers who were responsible for the inspection and approval of the school building that collapsed early Monday morning.
“I wish to assure all residents of Nairobi that I will not leave any stone unturned, until we reverse the effects of the impunity that was spearheaded by the Planning Department. Those found guilty will also be charged in court,” said the Governor on Tuesday.
This comes just a day after the city boss blamed the collapse of the building on corruption at city Hall and specifically the planning department.
He accused some of his officers of approving substandard buildings in the county.
Through a press statement, he explained that he had tried to expose the corrupt officials in his office who have been flouting the Physical Planning Act and Zoning regulations.
"I established that on more than one occasion, the rogue officers would switch off the digital system at City Hall to bypass the official channel in issuing building approvals," Sonko said.
The devastating tragedy at Precious Talent School in Dagoretti robbed eight pupils their lives and 64 were left with injuries.
A worker at the school, however says that prior to the collapse of the classroom, they had raised the issue of the structural integrity of the building with the head teacher who promised to look into it.
“On Friday there were strong winds which made the building shake uncontrollably and immediately after that we informed the head teacher. It’s a tragedy that children with promising futures had to die this way,” she said.
Education Cabinet Secretary, George Magoha, said that the school will remain closed until Monday next week to allow for further investigations.
Government Spokesperson Cyrus Oguna said that the government will settle medical fees for the admitted pupils.
Meanwhile, Ngando area residents are calling on the government to build a public primary school. They argued that the lack of public schools had given leeway to unscrupulous private school owners to operate at the expense of their children.
“It’s a surprise that we do not have any government owned school in our area. If the school was run by the government then there would be a higher level of integrity when it comes to building classrooms,” said James Kimani, a resident.
