Kiambu governor, Kimani Wamatangi, on Thursday, April 6, ordered the evacuation of tenants who inhabited a residential block in Thindigua.
The county's Department of Lands, Housing and Physical Planning rushed to the scene and evacuated the tenants after the building developed multiple cracks, nearly sinking.
The cracks were widespread, from the walls, windowpanes, slabs, and floors.
"Following a preliminary investigation that linked the cracks to a foundation failure, the county structural engineers declared the building as unsafe for occupation," Governor Wamatangi noted.
County officials, led by County Executive Committee Member Salome Muthoni, launched investigations into the construction of the building, nearly 10 years old.
Muthoni noted that the County Government was working with National Construction Authority (NCA) to authenticate the major cause of the cracks and to trace
Investigators from the National Construction Authority will also establish whether the right materials were used during construction and how the tender was awarded.
CEC Muthoni added that the County Government had begun reviewing documents to establish if the building underwent necessary approvals.
"My department has been leading an audit of all residential and commercial buildings across the county for the past two months, both complete and those under construction.
"This is aimed at examining structural integrity following continuous collapsing of building, in what has been attributed to poor workmanship as a result of failure by county government to enforce compliance and corruption," Muthoni stated.
Governor Wamatangi also confirmed that the exercise was being done in collaboration with the National Government and will culminate in the developers getting an opportunity to regularise approvals and certificates.
"The buildings will be marked as safe by experts, and hazardous ones brought down, and owners taken to court to avert loses," Wamatangi explained.
