A condemned building in Mamboleo area in Kisumu City, will be demolished within the next 48 hours following investigations into its partial collapse last week.
Kisumu County Commissioner Mohammed Ramadhan Mwabuzo said the decision was reached after inspections by the County Security Committee, National Construction Authority (NCA) and City Management technical teams. He was speaking at the site of the collapsed building on Friday.
“We have concluded that the building will be brought down. It will be demolished and controlled demolishment by a team of experts from a company by the name Civil Scope Engineering Limited,” Mwabuzo said.
He said Civil Scope Engineering Limited had already taken over the site and started setting up equipment after receiving the necessary permit to undertake the demolition.
“The demolition will take place in the next 48 hours,” he said.
A controlled demolition is a planned process in which trained specialists use an assessed method and predetermined sequence to bring down a structure while limiting the impact on surrounding people and property.
The exercise involves assessing the building and neighbouring structures, establishing safety measures and restricting access to the affected area.
Mwabuzo said residents within a radius of between 500 metres and one kilometre had been notified because the effects of the demolition could be felt within the area, although authorities expect nearby structures to remain safe.
“All the neighbors surrounding this building are officially informed that in the next 48 hours, there will be a controlled demolition of a building in their neighborhood, and they need to inform their tenants, they need to inform their families,” he said.
The demolition is expected to take place around midday, with Mwabuzo urging residents, particularly those with health challenges, to take note of the exercise.
As authorities move to address the immediate danger posed by the condemned structure, Mwabuzo said buildings marked with an X would also be subjected to further inspection to determine whether their proprietors had complied with construction requirements.
“A team of technical experts will be joined by the sub-county committee and visit each building that has an X mark to ascertain whether the proprietor followed the code of building or where we feel they didn’t, action will be taken immediately,” he said.
The planned inspections come amid concerns over compliance with construction regulations, with NCA Central Nyanza Regional Coordinator Architect Festus Mariera urging developers to engage qualified professionals throughout the construction process.
Mariera said developers should use NCA-registered contractors, accredited skilled workers and site supervisors, as well as professionals registered by relevant regulatory bodies, including the Engineers Board of Kenya and the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors (BORAQS).
“Some people just go and get a fundi, and the fundi does not even know whether they are accredited,” Mariera said.
He urged developers to seek guidance from the relevant authorities whenever they are unsure about construction requirements, noting that compliance with regulations is important in preventing building failures and loss of lives.
On the Mamboleo building, Mariera said the existence of construction documents would not, on its own, determine responsibility for the failure, as investigations into the circumstances surrounding the collapse were still ongoing.
He said a technical investigation committee would be constituted to examine the project, including documentation provided by those involved, and establish whether there was any culpability.
Mariera also raised concerns over developers who cuse shortcuts and fail to maintain communication with professionals engaged to oversee construction projects.
He cited another building that collapsed in the area in May, saying drawings had been submitted for approval but the owner allegedly failed to subsequently consult the professionals expected to supervise the project.
Meanwhile, Mwabuzo said the owner of the collapsed building would face the law if investigations establish culpability.
“The owner of the building is a human being, he made a mistake and the law will always be followed to the letter. So the security agencies plus expert institutions will take it up and where the proprietor is found to be culpable of omission or commission, then the law will take its course,” he said.
The Commissioner confirmed that those injured during the collapse had been treated and discharged.
“There were no serious injuries. They sustained minor tissue injuries,” he said.
He added that most household goods belonging to tenants had been retrieved, with rescue teams assisting residents to recover their belongings before the demolition.
“We guided the tenants through our rescue team to recover most of the vital items. If anything is left, it is likely to be 20 per cent, but the majority of them were assisted to remove their belongings,” Mwabuzo said.
Mwabuzo said the landlord had also refunded deposits to all the tenants.
He urged residents to report buildings they consider unsafe, particularly as the county prepares for the expected El Nino rains.
“Let’s act responsibly. Take care of the buildings that we feel are not safe, but we’re not marked by NCA or City Management. You know the status of our buildings. Don’t wait until they collapse on your family for you to come out and tell us. Inform us early enough,” he said.
The Commissioner said the national and county governments, security agencies and emergency teams were prepared to respond to emergencies, urging residents living in unsafe structures to relocate to safer areas before the rains begin.
“We want people to move to safer grounds earlier even before the rains begin,” Mwabuzo said.
Mariera echoed the call for greater adherence to construction standards, urging developers to respect the role of qualified professionals in the construction industry.
The four-storey L-shaped residential building in Mamboleo, near Jomo Kenyatta Stadium in Kisumu, partially collapsed on September 21, 2026, while construction was ongoing. The incident occurred at about 6am after one side of the structure began sinking, prompting the evacuation of residents.
Eight people were injured in the incident, with those injured receiving medical attention. The remaining occupants were evacuated as emergency and technical teams secured the area and assessed the structure.
The response team brought together the National Construction Authority (NCA), Kisumu City Management, police, Kenya Red Cross and other emergency teams. Technical teams subsequently assessed the building and surrounding structures as authorities investigate the circumstances surrounding the collapse.
There had also been concerns over compliance with construction requirements. Authorities are examining the building’s approvals, construction documents and whether the development had complied with the approved plans and building regulations.
Kenya’s building collapse crisis has escalated significantly in 2026, driven by illegal extensions, structural compromises, and weak regulatory enforcement. Authorities and architectural bodies have raised major alarms over widespread safety failures across both major cities and rapidly developing sub-counties
Before the collapse of the a storey building in Mamboleo (Kisumu) on September 21, 2026, a five-story building under construction collapsed in Ogembo Municipality in Kisii County collapsed on the same September 8, 2026. The collapse trapped individuals under the debris, resulting in one confirmed fatality.
The Mamboleo building Collapse left eight people injured (two critically) and housed approximately 40 families, largely university students, who had to flee when the staircases gave way.
Investigation reports revealed the National Construction Authority (NCA) had previously condemned the structure and marked it as “notorious”, but the developer repeatedly painted over the safety warnings to continue construction.
A 2018 audit of 14,925 buildings further found 723 classified as very dangerous and 10,791 as unsafe. The NCA identified poor workmanship, substandard materials and inadequate structural design among the leading factors associated with building failures.
These two incidences come against a backdrop of a history of building safety concerns in Kenya. A National Construction Authority study documented 87 building failures and collapses between 1990 and 2018, including 21 cases in 2015 alone.
by Mabel Keya- Shikuku / Dorothy Pamella
