Senator Kibwana Leads Senate Probe Into Nairobi Building Collapses Amid MP Concerns

The Senate Standing Committee on Roads, Transportation and Housing, chaired by Senator Hamida Kibwana, has opened an investigation into a series of building collapses in Nairobi, while the National Assembly’s Housing, Urban Planning and Public Works Committee, led by Joseph Tonui, has called for urgent inquiries into structural cracks at an apartment complex in Riruta Satellite, Dagoretti South.

The Senate inquiry follows a 2025 audit by the National Building Inspectorate that found 87 percent of 396 inspected buildings across Kenya failed to meet construction standards or lacked the required approvals, prompting the emergency demolition of two structures and documenting six major collapses in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisii.

In a statement to the Senate on Wednesday, November 4, Kibwana cited the recent collapse of a multi-storey building under construction on 9th Street in Eastleigh, the January failure of Manzil Towers in South C where four floors were added beyond the approved twelve, the partial collapse of a 22-storey project on School Lane in Westlands, and the March collapse in Blue Estate during a demolition linked to the Nairobi River Regeneration Project, saying “These incidents raise concerns regarding compliance, structural safety and accountability.”

Kibwana said the committee will examine whether developers complied with approved architectural and structural plans, assess the quality of construction materials and evaluate the effectiveness of agencies mandated to enforce building regulations, and will review more than 300 files of suspected regulatory breaches that Governor Johnson Sakaja has forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

On Thursday, November 5, Tonui led a fact-finding mission after nearly 100 families were evacuated from a ten-storey apartment block on Kabiria Road in Riruta Satellite following reports of deep masonry cracks; a preliminary National Construction Authority report identified three adjoining blocks, with pronounced cracks in the middle block and additional fissures elsewhere, deeming the premises unsafe for occupation.

Tonui urged investigative agencies to accelerate their inquiries, stating, “We have come on a fact-finding mission because we received an alert that there is a building which is almost collapsing,” and adding, “We are asking the investigating teams from the various agencies to expedite their investigations so that we can establish the exact cause.”

Dagoretti South MP John Kiarie said parliamentary intervention is necessary to prevent a repeat of past building tragedies, while Vice-Chair Rindikiri Mugambi stressed that national and county governments share a corporate responsibility to ensure Kenyans are safe wherever they are.

Kibwana referenced Kenya National Bureau of Statistics data showing 31.2 percent of the population lives in urban areas and an urbanisation rate of 4.4 percent, highlighting the pressure on planning and regulatory bodies amid rapid urban growth.

The parliamentary scrutiny comes as the death toll from the Eastleigh building collapse on October 23, 2026 has risen to eight, underscoring the urgency of addressing construction safety nationwide.