Collapsed Ruaka building: Four officials to be held in police custody

Four Kiambu County officials have been remanded for 10 days pending investigations into the collapse of a five-storey building in Ruaka last week that claimed two lives.

Kiambu Principal Magistrate Manuela Kinyanjui allowed authorities to detain Stephen Njiraini, John Mwobe, Pauline Wanjiku, and Geoffrey Kamau at Karuri Police Station.

In an affidavit seen by The Standard, the investigating officer Moses Maina asked the court to detain the four saying they are likely to be charged with manslaughter over the deaths of 74-year-old Peter Karomo and his wife Faith Wambui on Thursday last week.

"The respondents whose mandates include vetting, drawing, monitoring ongoing projects under construction, serving notices to non-compliance developments and enforcing the requirements of the notices served failed to act which led to the collapse of the said building causing death," Maina states in the court papers.

On Monday, police arrested the owner of the collapsed Ruaka building at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), while attempting to leave the country.