The walls are closing in on National Construction Authority Executive Director Maurice Akech as a damning legal petition lays bare what activists describe as years of catastrophic regulatory failure that has turned Kenya’s construction sector into a killing field.
Human rights activist Francis Awino has thrown down the gauntlet at the High Court, demanding Akech be declared unfit for office and immediately removed for what the petition describes as gross negligence, incompetence and a systemic failure to enforce construction laws that has cost lives and left thousands of Kenyans living in death traps.
The explosive court documents paint a devastating picture of an authority asleep at the wheel while developers flouted safety regulations with impunity, buildings rose illegally into the sky, and enforcement notices were treated as mere suggestions rather than legal orders.
The latest tragedy, the South C building collapse that killed two people, has become the catalyst for what could be Akech’s professional downfall. But it is far from an isolated incident. The petition reveals a chilling pattern of regulatory lapses stretching back years, with deadly consequences that Awino argues were entirely preventable.
According to court filings, investigations by both Nairobi City County and the NCA itself revealed that the doomed South C building was constructed without approved structural plans, lacked mandatory geotechnical assessment reports, and never underwent required statutory inspections. The developer allegedly exceeded the approved 12 floors by adding extra storeys without authorisation, yet construction continued unchecked.
Most damning is the timeline of inaction. The petition reveals that Nairobi City County issued enforcement notices to the developer and contractor warning of violations in May, July and December 2025. Three separate warnings. Three opportunities for the NCA to step in and halt construction. Three chances to save lives.
Yet nothing happened. Construction continued. Workers toiled on the illegal floors. And on January 2, 2026, physics and gravity combined to deliver their inevitable verdict as the building pancaked to the ground, crushing two people to death.
“The NCA, under the leadership of its CEO, failed to enforce compliance with construction and safety standards despite having the mandate to do so,” the petition states bluntly. Awino argues that Akech had direct authority over compliance but failed to enforce regulations, halt construction or sanction developers, describing his inaction as administrative maladministration and abuse of office.
When asked by journalists why the NCA failed to stop construction at the South C site despite the obvious non-compliance, Akech declined to explain, instead directing reporters to a statement issued by Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku. The deflection speaks volumes.
Even more troubling is what Awino describes as Akech’s public admission after the collapse that the building was non-compliant at the time it fell. In other words, the regulator knew the building was illegal, knew it was dangerous, yet did nothing to protect the public until it was too late.
But South C is merely the latest chapter in what the petition describes as a broader pattern of regulatory failure under Akech’s watch. The activist points to previous building collapses in Zimmerman in September 2023 and Kahawa West in October 2024, each attributed to poor workmanship, substandard materials and weak oversight.
In Kahawa West, the multi-agency team had condemned the eight-storey building on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, and issued an evacuation order. By Sunday, October 20, the building had collapsed. While tenants were evacuated in time, preventing mass casualties, residents revealed that instead of demolishing the structure, the developer had been allowed to attempt repairs to visible cracks, essentially papering over a structural catastrophe waiting to happen.
The statistics are horrifying. Kenya has recorded 87 building collapses over the past five years, with an estimated 200 people losing their lives and over 1,000 injured, according to NCA’s own reports. The 2018 audit by the National Building Inspectorate found that of 14,925 buildings examined, only 2,194 were safe. That means 723 buildings were classified as very dangerous, while 10,791 were deemed unsafe.
A subsequent 2021 NCA audit revealed that 35 per cent of buildings in Kenya are at risk of failure. These are not hidden problems. These are known dangers, documented in official reports, sitting in government files while Akech has led the authority tasked with preventing exactly these disasters.
The timeline of Akech’s tenure raises uncomfortable questions. Appointed as Executive Director on September 27, 2019, for a four-year term, Akech came to the role with impressive credentials: a master’s degree in Construction Engineering and Management and a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, both from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. He is registered as a civil engineer by the Engineers Board of Kenya and holds over 20 years of experience in design, construction supervision and management.
Yet despite this pedigree, the building collapses have continued. In fact, data shows that after a promising decline from 21 collapses in 2015 to just two in 2019, the numbers began rising again under Akech’s watch, with three buildings collapsing in a single week in Nairobi in November 2022.
Professional bodies have been scathing in their assessment of the regulatory environment. Institution of Engineers of Kenya President Shammah Kiteme’s question cuts to the heart of the accountability crisis: “Who was the responsible structural engineer? Is it the one in the NCA records? The one on site?”
The Architects Alliance President Senator Sylvia Kasanga has demanded that the NCA blacklist all contractors with compliance issues and make the list public. “Can NCA blacklist all contractors who have issues? Make it public,” she stated, highlighting what she sees as a culture of impunity enabled by weak enforcement.
Architectural Association of Kenya President Prof George Ndege warned that many buildings would collapse if even a minor tremor struck Nairobi, describing the built environment as living on borrowed time. “We are living by the grace of God,” he said, a damning indictment of the regulatory regime under Akech’s leadership.
The petition seeks a court declaration that Akech is unfit to hold office, along with orders for his removal or suspension. But Awino is not stopping there. He also demands immediate halts to all non-compliant construction projects in Nairobi, full accountability for enforcement lapses between 2021 and 2026, and mandatory inspections and sanctions for violators.
The activist contends that Akech’s actions, or more accurately his inaction, violated constitutional rights to life, fair administrative action and access to safety information, while also breaching the National Construction Authority Act, the Physical and Land Use Planning Act, and county building laws.
The State Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and the NCA itself are listed as interested parties in the case, which has been filed before Justice Lawrence Mugambi.
Perhaps most troubling is the culture of impunity that appears to have taken root under Akech’s tenure. Despite the establishment of the NCA in 2011 specifically to control the construction sector and prevent such disasters, professional bodies say there is no evidence that lessons have been learned from previous investigations.
“Many investigations have been done. There is no evidence that we have implemented the lessons learnt from the dissections and investigations. The failure to make people take responsibility makes this culture of impunity entrenched and there is no way to stop it,” the professional lobbies warned.
The South C building itself exemplifies this culture. The NCA issued registration for the project on November 8, 2023, before mandatory approvals from county government and the National Environment Management Authority were secured. Additional floors were approved without proof of structural review or inspection of ongoing works. The developer was listed as the engineer, creating obvious conflicts of interest. And perhaps most damningly, construction continued despite enforcement notices and stop orders from both the NCA and county government.
All of this happened on Akech’s watch. All of this occurred while he held the authority’s highest office, with direct responsibility for compliance and enforcement.
When Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome promised that those responsible for the South C collapse would be held accountable and would “carry the burden of punishment,” she may not have anticipated that the net would widen to include the very regulator tasked with preventing such disasters.
“A building that is professionally designed and constructed using the right materials should not collapse and kill people. Those responsible will carry the burden of punishment, and we will crack down on rogue developers, contractors and quacks,” Wahome declared.
But what about rogue regulators? What about enforcement officials who watch violations multiply and do nothing? What about authority directors who preside over a system where 85 per cent of buildings in the capital city are unsafe for human habitation?
The petition argues these are not mere administrative lapses but fundamental breaches of the public trust that demand the ultimate professional sanction: removal from office.
As the case proceeds through the courts, Akech’s defenders may point to the complexity of the construction sector, the multiple actors involved, the political interference, the corruption that oils the wheels of illegal development. All true. All documented. All damning in their own right.
But Francis Awino’s petition poses a simpler question: If the head of the National Construction Authority cannot or will not enforce construction laws, halt illegal developments, or protect Kenyans from buildings that kill, then what exactly is he there for?
Two bodies pulled from the rubble in South C deserve an answer. So do the 200 people who have died in building collapses over the past five years. So do the millions of Kenyans who go to bed each night in structures that professional engineers warn could become their tombs at any moment.
The question before Justice Mugambi is stark: Has Maurice Akech failed in his duty to protect Kenyan lives, and if so, should he pay the price with his job?
As the evidence mounts, the answer appears increasingly clear. And increasingly damning.
