Dismissed Nairobi County official Geoffrey Mosiria has recalled an earlier night operation at the site of the building that collapsed in Eastleigh, Nairobi, saying he and his team found workers continuing with construction late at night before the incident.
Mosiria made the revelation while speaking to a local television station on the night of Friday, October 23, 2026, hours after the building collapsed, raising questions about the construction activities that had been taking place at the site.
He said he remembered the building because he had visited it during an operation targeting activities that were disrupting residents, when officers found construction work continuing late into the night.
“That collapsed Eastleigh building, I know it, and it was being built day and night. I remember I visited before, and I am even looking for that video. I remember that building very well. We saw it one night when we were doing an operation to weed out people who were littering anyhow. It was around 8 pm,” Mosiria said.
He explained that officers returned to the site later that night and found workers still engaged in construction, despite the late hour. According to him, the workers told the team they avoided working during the day because of the high number of people in the surrounding area.
Mosiria said the encounter ended with the arrest of a watchman, while the other workers fled from the site after officers arrived.
“At 10pm and 11pm, we found them continuing with construction, and they said they did not build during the day because there were many people in the area and around it during the day. When we went there, we arrested the watchman, and all the other workers fled because they did not have any documents,” he said.
Mosiria said he was serving in the environment docket at the time and that the operation was part of efforts to enforce rules against construction activities at hours when residents needed peace in their homes.
He explained that the concern was the disturbance caused by construction work carried out late at night, particularly in residential areas where noise could affect people trying to rest.
“That time, I was in the environment docket, and we were going after it because they were not supposed to build during such hours when people need calm in their houses,” Mosiria said.
A video recorded by a local resident who lives next to the building also emerged after the collapse, showing what appeared to be a large crack around a corner pillar and gaps between some of the blocks before the structure came down.
