Owner of collapsed Ruaka building arrested at JKIA

Six-storey building collapses in Ruaka, Kiambu County on November 17, 2022, leaving two people dead. [Dan Njenga, Standard]

The owner of a building that collapsed last week in Ruaka, Kiambu County was arrested on Monday morning, November 21, at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

The six-storey building under construction in Joyland area left a couple that was living in the adjacent building dead.

According to a statement by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), 59-year-old Jeniffer Kamau was leaving for the United States (US), when detectives arrested her.

"Following the arrest, Jeniffer was taken ill and rushed to a city hospital by our officers, where she is receiving treatment before being arraigned in court," reads a statement by DCI.

Coincidentally, another building collapsed in Ruiru, Kiambu county today, bringing to four the number of structures that have collapsed within Nairobi and Kiambu in a month.

The National Construction Authority (NCA) attributes over 80 per cent of all incidents of collapsed buildings in the country to poor workmanship.

"Professional misconduct, using unqualified labour, greed for wealth by developers, poor structural design, and weak foundations are also to blame," said NCA chairman David Gaitho in a previous interview.