NAIROBI - Four people rescued from the collapsed multi-storey building in Eastleigh, Nairobi, are receiving treatment in hospital as search-and-rescue work continues in the rubble, the National Police Service said in an update. The building, which was under construction along 9th Street, collapsed on Friday, October 23.

Source: Capital FM Kenya, Oct 26, reporting the National Police Service update

On Monday, the engineer listed on the project's official record broke his silence. "I, Eng. Joseph Muturi Mugu, issue this notice following the National Construction Authority's press statement dated 23.10.2026 identifying me as the structural engineer for the above building. I dissociate myself from the construction works involved in that building," the notice dated October 26 read. Mugu said he had, through his advocates, requested project records from the National Construction Authority (NCA) and Nairobi City County to establish what information was relied on in identifying him, called for thorough investigations, and said he was ready to cooperate fully with investigators.

Source: The Kenya Times via GhanaMMA, Oct 26

The NCA's October 23 statement said the development, on Land Reference Number 36/II/40, 9th Street, Eastleigh, was registered on July 30, 2025. It listed 9th Street Plaza Limited as the developer and Stromax Holdings E.A. Limited as the contractor, with architect Emmanuel Mwangi Maina (registration A2045) and Mugu (registration A2750) as the professionals on record. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen confirmed 67 construction workers were at the site; people believed to have been inside shops on the ground floor and in the basement were unaccounted for, and the Kenya Red Cross opened a tracing desk for families, reachable through the emergency number 1199.

The approval question has become a direct clash between the governor and an MP. Sakaja said a document circulating online as proof of approval was misleading: an application to change the property's use from residential to residential and commercial was approved on October 17, 2024, but a separate development application submitted in November 2024 was never approved. "I have seen some people peddling a fake approval document alleging that the Eastleigh development was approved... They allege that the development was approved in January of 2024. This is not true," Sakaja stated, noting the application itself was only made in November 2024. He said the county had taken enforcement action before the collapse and that a county investigating officer had forwarded a case file to the Director of Public Prosecutions over alleged planning-law offences.

Source: People Daily, Oct 25 - Sakaja dismisses approval document as fake

Embakasi East MP Babu Owino rejects that account. He shared a document titled "Notification of Approval of Application" dated February 13, 2024, accused Sakaja of misleading the public, and alleged that a bribe of KSh 120 million — yaani 12 crore Kenyan shillings — had been paid. Those are Owino's allegations, which Sakaja denies; the governor argues the February document cannot be genuine because the development application was filed months later, in November 2024, and stresses that a change-of-use approval is not a development approval. The Engineers Board of Kenya has also launched investigations into the circumstances of the collapse, including the possible role of engineers linked to the project, and said confirmed breaches of professional standards could attract regulatory action.

Source: Radio Generation Kenya, Oct 26, reporting the Owino-Sakaja dispute

Police have appealed to the public to keep away from the site to let emergency responders work, and families seeking information about relatives have been asked to report to the Kenya Red Cross desk at the scene or call 1199. Authorities have not given a final account of how many people remain missing.