The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has ordered a criminal investigation into the collapse of a multi-storey building in Eastleigh, Nairobi, and revealed that Nairobi City County had never forwarded any inquiry file on the building's construction for prosecutorial review.

In a statement issued on Monday, 26 October 2026, the ODPP said it had directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to carry out a thorough probe into the circumstances that led to the collapse on Friday, 23 October.

Who will be investigated

According to the statement, the investigation will establish whether any act or omission by officials of the Nairobi City County Government, the private developer, contractors or other professionals involved in the planning, approval, supervision and construction of the building contributed to its collapse.

"The investigations shall establish the circumstances that led to the collapse," the ODPP said, as reported by Capital FM.

Once complete, the DCI is to send its inquiry file to the ODPP for independent review and further directions. The prosecutor's office said it would act wherever the evidence supported charges, regardless of the status of those implicated.

"Where sufficient evidence establishes criminal culpability, the ODPP shall take the necessary prosecutorial action," the statement read.

People Daily reported that the directive was issued under Article 157(4) of the Constitution, which allows the Director of Public Prosecutions to direct the Inspector General of Police to investigate any information or allegation of criminal conduct.

No file from City Hall

The most pointed part of the statement concerned Nairobi County. The ODPP said that as at the date of the statement, no inquiry file relating to the construction of the building had ever been forwarded by the county government. Such a file would have allowed prosecutors to review possible wrongdoing by the developer, building professionals or county officers and decide whether further investigation or charges were warranted.

The statement comes as Governor Johnson Sakaja's administration faces questions over how the building went up. Sakaja had earlier indicated that the developer put up the structure without county approval. Kenyans.co.ke reported on a letter dated 16 April 2026, said to be from the governor, in which he complained to the ODPP that the county was struggling to prosecute breaches of its laws after the gazettement of special county prosecutors was revoked in early 2024. The letter reportedly asked the ODPP to gazette county prosecutors and approve six county-nominated officers to handle such cases. Its authenticity has not been independently confirmed.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has said the building did not have an occupation certificate.

Search continues

Rescue operations at the site entered their fourth day on Monday. Figures on the number of people unaccounted for have varied. A government update on Sunday said 47 people had been reported missing, nine of whom had since been traced to their families, while Murkomen earlier put the number of missing at seven after 67 workers were accounted for. Police said four people had been pulled out alive and were receiving treatment in hospital. No final death toll had been confirmed by Monday.

The ODPP also used the statement to warn developers and professionals against ignoring building regulations and approval procedures, saying such disregard puts lives at risk. Building collapses have become a recurring tragedy in Nairobi's fast-growing neighbourhoods, and past investigations have seldom ended in convictions. Whether this case breaks that pattern will depend on how quickly the DCI completes its work and whether responsibility is traced beyond the developer to the officials meant to enforce the rules.

Photos: Citizen Digital (rescue operations at the site); Kenyans.co.ke (ODPP offices).