Sakaja says Eastleigh approval document is fake, building plans were never approved

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Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has dismissed as fake a document circulating online that suggests the county approved the development of the building that collapsed in Eastleigh on Friday, insisting the structure went up without building approval.

In a statement posted on X on Sunday, October 25, Sakaja said the document was being “peddled” by people alleging the development had been approved, and added that it was “the same document that the Eastleigh developer used to get NCA approval,” referring to the National Construction Authority.

What the governor says the records show

Sakaja said the circulating document claims approval in early 2024, which he said was not true. According to him, the application for development was made in November 2024, so it could not have been approved in February of the same year.

He drew a line between two kinds of county approval. The developer, he said, applied in August 2024 for a change of use on the property, from residential to residential and commercial, and that change of use was approved in October 2024. A development approval, which covers the building plans themselves, “has never been granted,” he said.

“The developer went on to build with impunity and without building approvals despite enforcement action by the county and arrests,” Sakaja wrote.

Speaking at the site after the collapse, the governor had said an application was made for a building of 15 floors plus a basement, and that the application was never granted.

What the disputed document says

People Daily reported that the document it reviewed shows Nairobi City County approving an application on February 13, 2024, for a proposed residential development on Plot LR No. 36/II/40 along 9th Street in Eastleigh, Kamukunji Sub-County. The document, issued under the Physical and Land Use Planning Act, 2019, describes 35 residential units, a restaurant, a mosque and shops, and gives the application number as PLUPA-COU-000821-N.

The paper noted that the document names a different developer from the one on the NCA’s records, and lists conditions including the submission of structural details, professional certification of workmanship and an occupation certificate before the building is occupied. It also said the document does not on its own show whether the final architectural and structural plans for the collapsed building were approved.

NCA registration is not county approval

The NCA said in a statement on October 23 that the project on the same parcel was registered with it on July 30, 2025, as a proposed development, with 9th Street Plaza Limited as the developer and Stromax Holdings E.A Limited as the contractor. We reported on the NCA’s statement and the professionals it named.

Registration with the construction regulator is a separate step from county planning and building approval. Sakaja’s argument is that the developer used the change-of-use paperwork to register the project with the NCA, even though the county never signed off on the building plans. Citizen Digital separately reported that the building had neither construction approval nor a licence from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).

The NCA has not publicly responded to the governor’s claim about the document used in the registration.

Why it matters for property buyers and businesses

Eastleigh is one of Nairobi’s busiest trading hubs, and the collapse destroyed shops on the ground floor of the building. The dispute over which approvals existed goes to the heart of how buyers, tenants and lenders check a project before they commit money to it.

The row shows that a change-of-use approval, an NCA registration number and a building plan approval are three different things. A project can hold one or two of them and still not have permission to build. Anyone putting a deposit on an off-plan unit or signing a shop lease in a new building should ask to see the approved building plans, not just a change-of-use letter or a regulator registration.

Rescue and recovery work has continued at the site, and police have said they are looking for the building’s owner and contractor. Sakaja has pledged legal action against those responsible.