Developer of collapsed Mirema building resisted past arrests, official says

Rubble of a story building that collapsed.[Fidelis Kabunyi, Standard]

The Nairobi City County now says the contractor of the collapsed Mirema building defied construction laws and past warnings from authorities.

This is according to a communique by Nairobi Acting County Secretary Patrick Analo on the status of the building that collapsed at Mirema Springs in Roysambu estate on Sunday, September 24.

In a statement on Tuesday, Analo stated that the developer had defied the construction laws when erecting the premises.

"We have established that the developer carried out the development contrary to section 16 of the Building Code and Physical and Land Use Planning Act (2019)," the planner said.

He also noted that the developer resisted earlier arrests by the county officials.

It also emerged that the Nairobi County Government urban planning department had approved the application for the building of the apartment.

The building which was located on Mirema Drive collapsed on Sunday night.

Analo clarified that by the time of the incident, only nine floors had been constructed. There were no casualties reported.

The county government has also established that there was no evidence of supervision from both the architect and engineer during construction.

The county has since taken over the site and taken samples to the National Building Inspectorate (NBI) for testing.

The alleged contractor has since been arrested and detained at the Nairobi West prisons.