A probe into the demolition of a high-rise building in Mombasa revealed that credential renting by licensed engineers and architects, as well as insufficient inspection and oversight by county officers and National Construction Authority (NCA) officials as some of the factors behind the building’s partial collapse and subsequent deconstruction by the Kenya Defence Forces.
Fundamental design flaws, absence of critical site investigations, including the lack of a geological report, and weak professional supervision, including unqualified individuals acting as professionals, were also some of the findings of a multi-agency task force established by Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Sherrif Nassir.
Nassir, while releasing the report on Friday, May 30, mainly the highlighted credential renting, in this context the act of using one's qualifications to access tenders or deals in the construction by rogue licensed engineers and architects, as some of the damning details of what really went wrong with the building.
While revealing the names of the engineers and architects involved in the building’s construction, Nassir warned of impending consequences for those involved and ordered an immediate structural integrity test for all projects associated with the highlighted individuals.
Further, the taskforce found that the project approval process was allowed to proceed despite unresolved concerns such as conflict of interest where county staff reviewed projects from their own staff, lack of standard checklists and peer reviews and disconnect between county records and NCA data.
This was besides inadequate professional authentication on e-DAMS and lack of a comprehensive structural cross-verification.
Aside from the architects and engineers, those found culpable included the building developer, contractors lacking technical capacity, individuals operating without licences, and a county officer for enabling procedural shortcuts and bypassing regulations.
On Wednesday, April 9, KDF officers oversaw the successful demolition of the 11-storey building, done through explosives after an assessment had declared it structurally unfit.
The building was on the verge of collapse after developing cracks in its foundation, but was brought down through a well-coordinated controlled demolition.
During the demolition process, KDF officers were deployed to the inner area of the building premises, while officers from the National Police Service (NPS) were deployed to restrict access to the area.
Hours before the process, residents were urged to adjust their travel plans, with locals forced to evacuate to safer places, while schools and hospitals were closed temporarily.
The Nyali Bridge, which links Mombasa Island to the country’s mainland, was also closed from Wednesday morning at around 7 am on both ends. Moments later, a loud single blast was heard from a distance to finalise the demolition process.
In their recommendations, the taskforce proposed penalties in cases of credential renting, enforcement of disclosures of conflict of interest, and requirements for peer reviews for complex or high-risk projects.
