The company listed as the contractor for the collapsed building in Eastleigh, Nairobi, has distanced itself from the project, with its director telling police that his brother, who is not a registered contractor, borrowed the firm's credentials to secure approvals.

The account, first reported by Citizen Digital, has deepened confusion over who was actually responsible for the structure on 9th Street that caved in on October 23, trapping workers and traders. Sixteen people were still listed as missing by Friday.

Conflicting accounts

In records released soon after the collapse, the National Construction Authority (NCA) named 9th Street Plaza Limited as the developer and Stromax Holdings E.A. Limited as the contractor, alongside a project architect and a structural engineer.

According to Citizen Digital, the contractor's director told investigators that his brother approached him for permission to use the company's details to get NCA approvals. He says he agreed and even confirmed the project to the authority by email, but insists he played no part in the construction itself.

The brother has given police a different version. He says the company hired him only as a labour contractor to handle masonry and steel fixing, and that "an engineer supervised the project and approved the works."

The structural engineer named by the NCA had earlier issued a notice through his lawyers saying he dissociated himself from the works and had asked the NCA and Nairobi County for the project records, The Kenya Times reported. None of the parties has been charged, and their accounts remain claims under investigation.

Where the probe stands

  • More than 20 people have recorded statements with police
  • One of three developers has given a statement; the landowners are expected to report to police in the coming days
  • Citizen Digital reports that the landowners paid Sh1.1 million to Nairobi County with two applications, one of which remained pending over four issues the county had flagged
  • No arrests had been reported by Saturday

The approval trail has already turned political. Governor Johnson Sakaja has said a later development application was never approved and that a case file had been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, while Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has accused City Hall of misleading the public, a claim Sakaja's administration rejects.

Search continues

Rescue teams on Friday recovered the remains of a woman from the basement, the first body pulled from the rubble since search operations began. The remains are to undergo DNA identification. Families of the missing continue to wait at the site, while the Kenya Red Cross runs a tracing desk.

Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen has said 67 construction workers were on site when the building came down. Investigators say they want to establish whether the structure was built in line with approved plans before any decision on charges.

Photos: Citizen Digital; The Eastleigh Voice. Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.