Police officers drawn from Ruaraka Police Station on Saturday, June 17, revealed how a landlord's defiance led to the mysterious demise of four workers at a construction site in Eastleigh, Nairobi County.
Ruaraka Deputy OCPD Willy Kubano told the press that the National Construction Authority (NCA) suspended the construction of the building in March 2023 after the first death was reported.
At the time, NCA reviewed safety operations at the site and found them unsatisfactory leading to the suspension.
The officer, however, wondered why the building was still under construction without a review of the safety protocols.
Further, a section of Eastleigh residents revealed that the construction continued a day after NCA's suspension.
"There are no safety precautions on this site. We have witnessed multiple cases of incidents that led to the demise of four people," a resident stated.
One of the cases involved Julius Wekesa who fell to his death on Tuesday, June 13. His wife, Alice Nanjala, intimated that her husband had reported working at the Eastleigh building for the first time before he met his untimely death.
She indicated that she is yet to visit the mortuary and identify her husband's body because she was still recovering from the shock.
Wekesa's relative, Timothy Shituma, expressed dismay over the incident and urged police officers to expedite investigations and bring charges against the landlord.
"I found my relative's body in a debilitated state after the incident. We took his body to the city mortuary," Shituma stated.
The construction workers died within a 2-month period while working at the site. Initial reports indicated that the majority of the workers at the site were foreigners from Uganda and Congo.
“We don't know what happened to the first person who died at the building and it was not long before a second person was found dead in a pool of water inside the building."
“The third person was electrocuted and now, there is this case of a man who fell from the third floor,” a resident lamented about the situation.
The residents faulted the landlord for failing to put into consideration the safety of its workers.
“It will be better if the construction is just stopped to prevent any more people from dying at this site. Do they have to continue putting up this building if they cannot get certified engineers and workers?” Another resident questioned.
