According to Erick Ohaga, the president of the Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK), the increased cases of collapsing buildings across the country - especially in Nairobi and its environs - is due to a lack of professional engineers.
He noted that in the ongoing construction development projects, few qualified engineers have been included throughout the process hinting at a looming disaster.
In an address to the press on Tuesday, January 3, Ohaga called upon both the national and county governments to facilitate the employment of professional engineers from the institution to help reduce the number of collapsed buildings.
"We have noted that some developers in the country avoid hiring professional engineers - a move that has cost investments of up to Ksh200 million crumbling down," he lamented.
Furthermore, he urged the Chairperson of the Council of Governors (CoG), Anne Waiguru, to allocate a budget to facilitate the engineers' recruitment process.
"We ask the government to ensure that we have 700 professional engineers to design, make approvals and oversee the over 700 new buildings being requested," he stated.
Additionally, he lamented over the deficit of engineers across the 47 counties noting that some graduates are yet to secure employment despite being qualified.
According to Ohaga, the country will benefit from the employment of an additional 1,700 professional engineers.
"We are asking the government to reconsider as they reorganise the administration to ensure that any engineering institution is headed by an engineer," he added.
In the last three months of 2022, at least four buildings collapsed in Nairobi and its environs with several people losing their lives and others losing properties.
In October 2022, the government issued a construction approval process that included three main stages; pre-construction, construction, and post-construction.
"Only professionals registered with their respective regulatory bodies can design drawings intended for construction. These include architects, structural engineers, quantity surveyors, planners, etc," the government stated.
