By Mulengera Reporters
An internal five page confidential KCCA report has revealed what exactly happened and caused the Friday 5th June collapse of the three storied building structure in Kawempe Division’s Kisasi neighborhood near Kisota Road.
Authored by KCCA’s Director Engineering Justus Akankwatsa, the report shows that the building was being constructed without any formal approvals by the city authorities. This explains why the owner and developer, who the report reveals to be non-other than Mr. Mathews Jjingo Kibirige, opted to always construct on weekends and at night under the cover of darkness.
There was no technical supervision by a registered engineering professional which is why many of the mandatory construction safety procedures weren’t heeded to. No approved documents or even inspection reports were available anywhere.
Akankwatsa’s report shows that absence of verifiable professional supervision explains why there was poor construction sequencing, poor workmanship and loading practices. The developer also didn’t have in place the register for the labors working on the site.
There was no building permit, architectural drawings, structural drawings, structural calculations, geotechnical report and inspection records. There was also hollow blockwork and construction loading.
The confidential report talks about the developer using weak construction materials which couldn’t support the erection of such a heavy structure, ostensibly because he wanted to save on hardware purchases.
KCCA field inspectors had flagged the structure as early as April and even ordered a halt in the construction works but the developer defied them and carried on with the construction works on weekends and also under the cover of darkness.
Working with the National Building Control Board and the Police, KCCA investigators took samples from the available debris and structural elements to the laboratory and had them tested. It was discovered that there was weak concrete ranging from 10MPa to 18MPa instead of 25MPa, which would be the ideal minimum.
This compromised the cube strength for the structural concrete. Investigations are still ongoing as to whether the steel being used on the site met the minimum quality standard requirements. Forensic investigations also continue to be undertaken by KCCA closely working with Police and NBRB-in order to understand the collapsed building’s structural simulations.
In his report, Eng Akankwatsa recommends a city-wide inspection to of all ongoing multi-storied buildings to identify all the ongoing construction projects without valid approvals, with a view to have developers behind such illegal developments criminally prosecuted.
He demands this becomes a priority that should be urgently done. He also proposes the establishment of the city building safety taskforce and mandatory stage certification of all major developments.
Besides recruitment of additional inspection staff, Eng Akankwatsa is also recommending for the deployment of a digital construction monitoring system. He also wants KCCA to begin conducting annual building safety audits on top of developing a Kampala-wide building safety strategy.
Mr. Mathews Jjingo Kibirige is also recommended for severe sanctioning so that the three construction site workers who lost their life don’t die in vain. He must also be personally held liable over the fact that this was an illegal building that was being constructed without prior inspection by any KCCA official and also without a building permit, which the law makes mandatory.
The developer’s individual culpability will be established even more upon the completion of forensic investigations covering material testing, document review and reinforcement assessment besides the witness statements that continue to be taken. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
