By Aaron Okotel
MBALE CITY
Details have emerged on the Mbale City 4-storey building that collapsed on Saturday, 2nd May, 2026 at Kachumbala Cell, Namakwekwe Estate, Northern City Division.
The building which was still under construction collapsed at about 3:00AM killing one person, while three others managed to escape shortly before it collapsed.
Eyewitnesses say, the four construction workers were sleeping inside the building at the time of the crash.
The incident occurred at around 3:00am on Saturday in Kachumbala Cell, Namakwekwe Estate, where four construction workers were reportedly residing at the time.
Police, working alongside the Red Cross, rushed to the scene and conducted rescue operations, managing to recover one deceased from the rubble.
The deceased has been identified as Wonyakala Andrew, a foreman at the construction site. Elgon Region Police spokesperson Rogers Taitika confirmed the fatality and described the incident as unfortunate.
“It is unfortunate that this accident has claimed the life of Wonyakala Andrew, who was the foreman on this site,” Taitika said. He added that the body had been transported to Valley Steel Motel for a post-mortem examination.
Police further confirmed that three survivors—Emmanuel, Masaba Wilfred, and Ashraf—are currently receiving medical treatment.
Authorities have since launched investigations into the cause of the collapse. Taitika noted that efforts are underway to apprehend the engineer, Alfred Masaba, responsible for the building’s design, citing early indications of substandard construction.
“We are making all efforts to ensure that those responsible are held accountable. Even from a layman’s perspective, there are signs of poor workmanship,” he said.
The building owner is reportedly abroad, but police say investigations will be exhaustive to establish the exact cause of the disaster.
Meanwhile, James Kutosi, the Mbale city public relations officer says that the building plans for the collapsed building were never approved.
Kutosi in a Sunday statement adds that the Northern City Division issued a notice to stop the construction but the builders chose to build over weekends and sometimes at night to dodge City enforcement teams.
Engineer Dan Mukwana, a construction expert of queue contractors limited in Mbale City, attributed the collapse to a combination of negligence by engineers, weak enforcement by city authorities, and cost-cutting by clients.
Mukwana explained that although Mbale has seen a rapid rise in infrastructure development since gaining city status, oversight has not kept pace.
“We pay significant development fees to the city authorities, but in many cases, engineers do not come on the ground to supervise projects,” he said. “This lack of inspection allows substandard work to continue unchecked.”
He pointed out possible structural flaws, including the use of undersized reinforcement bars and questionable slab design, which may have compromised the building’s integrity.
“For such a structure, stronger materials and proper engineering standards are required. Without proper supervision and adherence to approved designs, such disasters become inevitable,” Mukwana added.
