Governors, officials to blame over collapsed buildings

The ‘Bandwagon Effect’, where every Kenyan believes they must build a block of apartments, needs to be canned until safety standards are improved. It may be a business concept that works and has profited many in other parts of the world, but the Kenyan model is riddled with problems.

The country has a long way to go to make a success of it. The fact that many high-rise buildings are going up does not necessarily mean that tenants are enjoying better living standards. Most flats are substandard and only add to the concrete jungle that is now taking over the country, especially in Nairobi and Mombasa. They are unsightly, too.