Pay television service provider MultiChoice is set to bring down a multi-million building in Nairobi. MultiChoice will demolish the building which is estimated to be worth Sh. 895 million. The building is the subect of a court battle between MultiChoice and the contractor who was identified as Cementers Ltd.
On Saturday, the contractor issued a warning to MultiChoice against bringing the building down. The contractor cautioned that any demolition would be used as evidence in a criminal court the two players are involved in at the Nairobi Magistrates Court. “The public is notified that by reason of the foregoing, the building may be required in evidence in the said criminal case and that it would therefore be a criminal offence punishable under Section 116 of the Penal Code for anyone to willfully destroy or demolish it or render it incapable of identification in its current state with intent to preventing it from being used in evidence in the criminal case,” said Senior Counsel Wilfred Nderitu whois representing Cementers Ltd.
However, MultiChoice has been arguing that it will demolish the building as an act of compliance with directives of the Nairobi County Government, which condemned the construction due to safety reasons. “The building is not an exhibit in any of the ongoing civil, arbitral and criminal cases between the parties,” MultiChoice said in a statement. “The proposed MultiChoice Kenya Offices of which Cementers Limited was the contractor are being demolished pursuant to Enforcement Notices issued by the County Government of Nairobi condemning the said building and requiring its immediate demolition due to safety concerns.”
MultiChoice had hired Cementers Ltd to build the office block, but the two parties fell out and MultiChoice terminated the construction contract in June 2017. The termination of the contract set in motion a court battle before an arbitrator, civil and criminal courts.
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“Any person who might have responded to the RFQ (Request for Quotation) is hereby put on notice about the risks involved in accepting any offer in the demolition of the building,” the notice by Nderitu & Partners read.
MultiChoice claimed the contractor did substandard works, leading to cracks on parts of the building. The entertainment company allegedly hired a team of experts, whose report faulted Cementers Ltd. Last month, the team of experts who included Kariuki Muchemi, Wilson Karaba and Stanley Kebathi were charged with conspiring to falsify a structural integrity report as part of a plan to defraud. The experts have been charged alongside Interconsult Engineers, Conapex Consulting Engineers and SK Archplans.
MultiChoice is now seeking to hire a Project Manager to oversee and manage the demolition of the building which is situated along Oloitoktok Road at Kileleshwa in Nairobi, and has already sent out a Request for Quotations (RFQ). Submission deadline for quotes was on 18th February 2022.
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A report on the condemnation of the building states that beams supporting parts of the building were sagging and columns cracking because the concrete used to put them up was not of the required strength as per the construction contract.
