Wamuzi News Ke
In an astonishing move, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has ordered the Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja to end his investigation into the failure of the high-rise building in South C and hand in a detailed report in seven days.
DPP Renson Ingonga, in a very strong statement that was issued on Sunday, informed that the purpose of the investigation is to uncover and bring to justice, through criminal prosecution, all parties that contributed to the collapse, starting from the developers and contractors to the officials who approved, inspected, or simply overlooked building standards.
The order is a clear indication of an urgent need for accountability after the incident that has revealed serious regulatory shortcomings in the construction industry.
The disaster took place at around 2 am on the 2nd of January 2026, when the 14-story building that was almost finished collapsed to the ground next to the South C Shopping Centre, burying at least two people under the debris.
Emergency teams are conducting constant searches and recovery operations, and so far, one body has been found, and the rescue operations are still going on under very dangerous conditions.
The police are to take statements from all the major players—the developer, the contractor, and the officials who were in charge of approving, inspecting, and enforcing building codes—and the resulting file is to be sent to the ODPP for their input and possible prosecution as part of the seven-day order.
The DPP’s statement has offered its condolences to the families of the victims and has also made it clear that the investigations will find out if there were any gaps, negligence, or regulatory violations that led to the collapse.
Prosecutors have also indicated that the accused might be subjected to criminal charges based on the investigations.
The building’s fall has once more stirred public discussion around the issue of construction regulation enforcement in the city of Nairobi. Johnson Sakaja, the city’s governor, is advocating the granting of wider prosecutorial powers to the counties, as the collapse is the end of a series of regulatory actions taken on the building that did not stop its failure.
