Revealed: How plan of Eastleigh collapsed building was altered
Nairobi
By
Pkemoi Ng'enoh
| Nov 11, 2026
A private physical planner of the Eastleigh collapsed building on Tuesday revealed how City Hall secretly approved a change to the initial plan of the building, which may have led to its collapse.
The 18-storey building came tumbling down October 23, 2026, while under construction, but some floors on the ground had been occupied contrary to safety standards.
And after two weeks of rescue operations, it was established that 8 people lost their lives following the collapse along Eastleigh 9th Street.
The physical planner, identified as Nathan Matunga, while appearing before the Nairobi County Assembly Committee on Urban Planning, further confessed that a broker approached him to apply for a change of use at City Hall without any challenge.
READ MORE
Co-op Bank investors to receive Sh8.8b payout after profit surge
Irony of rising tea exports, shrinking gains for farmers
Parliament calls for special audit into Quickmart share sale
Why the super-rich are abadoning the property market
Kenya's seafarers battle unpaid wages, poor working conditions
KeNHA reports over 99 per cent axle load compliance
KEBS seeks tougher rules on imported and locally made goods as MPs review drafts
Mombasa industrial park set for Sh90 billion power plant, AI project
Kenya needs 100,000 additional project managers by 2035 amid soaring demand
Mutunga told the Committee chaired by former Nairobi Mayor Godfrey Majiwa that sometime in 2024, he was tasked to apply for change of use from single dwelling to commercial cum multi-dwelling apartments.
He revealed that the developer used a broker to approach him for the application, and he was paid Sh121,000 for the job.
"It was payment for change of use from single dwelling to commercial, multi-dwelling apartments," the planner explained, adding that after the approval, his mandate ended there, the witness told the Committee.
"I didn't follow up because that was out of my mandate. Once I'm done with the approvals, it's now the work of the developer, with the contractor, the engineer and the architect, to work on that," the planner told the Committee.
The Assembly sitting was also told that another physical planner who is an employee of Nairobi County based at City Hall was aware of the plans to change the initial building plan of the collapsed building.
According to the witness, the county planner was first approached to approve the change of use for the building but since there was no application, a broker was tasked to approach Mutunga to apply for a fee.
"The County planner identified as Joseph Mutua approached a broker known as Japeth Malusi who gave me the job to apply for the change of user because I am registered planner," the planner told the committee
Mutunga was hard pressed to explain why he went ahead to seek approval at City Hall, yet he had learned that the real developer of the project was not alive.
"How did you accept the task knowing that your client, whom you mentioned as deceased?" Anthony Kiragu, one of the Committee members, asked the planner.
In response, Mutunga said there was on ongoing succession grant and letters of administration had been issued for several plots owned by the developer but he was sure who was overseeing the Eastleigh project.
The developer and Nairobi County Executive, led by Urban Planning CECM Patrick Mbogo, were supposed to appear before the committee but did not show up, citing that they were attending a Cabinet meeting chaired by Governor Johnson Sakaja.
"No one wants to take responsibility, and we may want to grill the owner, but from the information we are getting, no one wants to tell us who the developer is, but we will get down to it," Majiwa, the Assembly Planning Committee said
The Committee also questioned why no officer from the Nairobi County Urban Planning department had resigned or been suspended following the Eastleigh tragedy.