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In summary
Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko has suspended 14 county officials after the Top Talents school tragedy in Nairobi.
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In his statement, the governor said that this radical move is aimed at giving investigators ample time to conduct unbiased investigations into the tragedy that claimed the lives of eight pupils on Monday.
The collapsed school building also left scores of learners injured.
SUSPENSION
Two county ministers and 14 other bigwigs in the county of Nairobi have been suspended by Governor Mike Sonko.
The suspended county ministers are Charles Kerich- minister for finance and Mohammed Dagane-minister for health.
The governor said that the move is aimed at providing an ample opportunity for a fair probe into what may have caused the tragedy where a school building collapsed and killed eight pupils.
Other county officials who were sent packing are:
1. Justus Kathenge, the county chief officer in charge of urban planning.
2. Dominic Mutegi who is the director of development management
3. Onchanda Ondari Fredrick the assistant director for enforcement
4. Jasper Ndeke the director of planning compliance and enforcement
5. Ruth Waruguru, director of urban planning
6. Simon Onyango, in charge of architectural plans’ approval
7. Thomas Dudi, assistant director of planning
8. Mackline Saitera, in charge of approving plans and inspection of schools
9. Alex Mucheru, in charge of approving buildings and schools after assessing their health and safety standards
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10. Ednah Guantai who approves public schools and buildings in terms of public health
11. Okal Kennedy, a ward administrator (Ngando)
12. Lucy Munyika, commander for Dagoretti South
13. Joyce Kyengo, administrator, Dagoretti Sub-county
14. Sylvia Mwikali, planning officer, Dagoretti sub-county
Corruption
Governor Sonko blamed corruption for the numerous collapsed buildings within the city.
He said this on Monday after the tragedy. He also accused the ministry of education of negligence of duty.
He said that he had unravelled a flock of black sheep who were at the centre of the corruption at the city mall.
The suspended officials, therefore, are accused of issuing building permits without ensuring that the set standards are met.
He further accused the Ministry of Education of neglecting its sovereign duty of ensuring that the schools registered meet the par.
Nairobi county assembly speaker Alex Ole Magelo pointed his finger at public officers at city mall whose care-free attitude continues to put many Kenyan lives at stake.
He further added that concerted efforts geared towards putting city hall in order have hit the rock. All efforts have been frustrated by rogue county officials.
Mr Magelo further blamed NEMA for collapsing buildings and the upsurge of illegal structures in the city.
COMPREHENSIVE AUDIT
The governor further added that he was obliged to commission a comprehensive audit of all county systems following a public upheaval that brought the rot to the limelight.
The audit revealed that the rogue officials could sometimes switch off the installed digital system to skip the correct procedure of issuing approvals for buildings.
The click of these rogue officials is purportedly led by the county chief officer in charge of planning- Justus Kathenge.
The question is, will the suspension bring back to life the dead pupils?
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