Donatila
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- Oct 23, 2014
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The owner of the building that collapsed in Mwembe estate in Kisii county early last month has been charged with seven counts of manslaughter.
Elijah Mokono Ombati alias Luka Kombo was charged that on October 11, he and others not before court unlawfully and negligently caused the death of seven people.
Ombati appeared before area senior principal magistrate N.S Lutta on Wednesday.
He was accused of causing the death of Thadeus Ayuma, Albert Ontoro, Jacob Omaria, Zephania Ogeto, Athanus Isoi, Walter Michira, and Leah Kwamboka.
The suspect was arrested after the five-storey building collapsed.
County disaster management, National Disaster Management Unit Incident (NDMUI), and KDF helped in the recovery.
Ombati was first arraigned on October 17 and denied all the charges.
He was released on a Sh1 million bond with two sureties. The case will be heard on May 21, 2018.
County police commander Hassan Abdi on Wednesday said that they suspect Ombati, a county government, engineer is not qualified.
National Construction Authority (NCA) said the problem of buildings collapsing in Kisii will not end soon as quarks have invaded the construction industry.
Regional boss Lucas Adwera said that developers were using quarks at the expense of professionals.
Adwera said that they suspended the construction of the building on September 25 but the owner went ahead with the project.
National Disaster Management Unit Incident Commander Pius Maasai, when he led the rescue operation, warned developers against rushing with construction works.
Maasai noted that the developers are only interested in making quick returns at the expense of people’s lives.
Source: starcoke
