Defence Cabinet Secretary Roselinda Soipan Tuya has confirmed the discontinuation of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers’ deployment in Mombasa.
In a notice published in the Kenya Gazette uploaded on the Kenya Law website on Monday, May 12, 2025, Tuya indicated that the soldiers sent to help demolish a building in Mombasa were ordered back to the barracks.
Tuya informed the public that the soldiers were withdrawn from the coastal city immediately after bringing down an eleven-storey building.
”Pursuant to section 34 (3) (a) of the Kenya Defense Forces Act, notice is given that on the 9th April 2025, the Kenya Defence Forces discontinued its deployment in the responses to the emergency at the eleven-storeyed building situated at Kilifi Corner Fayaz Estate along Abdel Nasser Road, Mombasa County, that began sinking on 2nd April, 2025, endangering adjacent residential and commercial buildings,” Tuya indicated in the gazette notice dated Friday, May 9, 2025.
The demolition was part of a coordinated operation designed to address the structural instability of the building, which had become a serious risk to both the immediate surroundings and the broader community.
Their deployment
Their deployment to help in the controlled demolition of the said building was okayed by CS Tuya through a gazette notice dated April 7, 2025.
“Pursuant to Article 241 (3) (b) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, read with sections 31 (1) (a), (c) and 34 (2) of the Kenya Defence Forces Act, notice is given that on the 7th April, 2025, the Kenya Defence Forces was deployed to assist the Ministry of Interior and National Administration and the County Government of Mombasa in the emergency response towards a nine-storeyed building situated at Kilifi Corner, Fayaz Estate along Abdel Nasser Road, Mombasa county, that begun sinking on 2nd April, 2025, endangering adjacent residential and commercial buildings,” Tuya’s notice dated April 7, 2025, read in part.
This was after Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir said the decision to demolish the building was reached following a comprehensive assessment by a multisectoral agency team comprising the County Department of Lands, Urban Planning and Housing, the National Building Inspectorate, the County Security Team, the National Construction Authority, the State Department of Public Works, and the KDF.
“The building has been declared structurally unsound and poses an imminent risk to life and property. In light of this, a controlled demolition has been scheduled to avert potential catastrophe,” Nassir announced.
