Activist sues construction company over 'dangerous building' in Eastleigh

Eastleigh Leaders' Forum – ELF, a Community-Based Organisation (CBO), has sued a construction company putting up a building where five people died due to a lack of requisite safety measures.

ELF chairman Hamisi Ali has sued Alfatop Limited, the company constructing a multi-storey building on land registration (LR.No.36//11/15) located in Eastleigh.

In an affidavit filed in court to support his petition, Hamisi says the company is undertaking the construction without any approval and disregarding safety protocols, thus endangering the lives of workers and other people.

"The Defendant (Alfatop Limited) has continued with its constructions dangerously close to power lines without any safety measures which has endangered the lives of not only its workers but also members of the community around the site," Hamisi states in suit papers.

"As a result, a total of five (5) people have now lost their lives with the recent being one Julius Wekesa Wanyonyi, a worker on the site who fell to his demise from the second floor of the said building due to lack of safety nets which are part of the basic safety protocols for constructions of such magnitudes and others were either electrocuted or similarly fell to their death."

Hamisi has sued the company listing the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), National Construction Authority (NCA) and the Nairobi City County Planning, Compliance and Enforcement department as interested parties.

The three have failed to stop the "dangerous construction" and Hamisi whose organisation advocates for the welfare of Eastleigh residents is seeking the court's intervention.

Hamisi wants the high court to stop the construction alleging that the company has continued the construction works in defiance of enforcement notice from the Director of the Nairobi County Planning directorate.

The directorate had ordered immediate stoppage of the construction on September 16, 2024, after Hamisi lodged a complaint over the construction activities.

The activist says out of the five people who perished at the construction site, three of them died after the directive stopped the construction works.

"And it cannot be in doubt that that the ongoing constructions therein are health and safety hazards not only to the workers but also to the members of the public working and living within the area," Hamisi states.

The Environment and Land Court has given the company and the other parties in the case – NCA, NEMA and Nairobi County- up to October 25 to respond to the application.

The petitioner, the respondent and interested parties will exchange preliminary documents before November 10 when the case will be mentioned.