Deputy President Righathi Gachagua is pushing for stringent legal framework to enforce accountability, including criminal liability, for engineers who do shoddy work.
This is in response to the recent roof leaks at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi, which have exposed glaring deficiencies in the quality of work that was undertaken.
Speaking at the 30th Institution of Engineers of Kenya Convention and the 18th General Assembly World Council of Engineers in Mombasa, Gachagua expressed dismay over the substandard quality of work during the costly renovation of JKIA terminals.
He said the leaking roofs at JKIA should catalyse implementing legal measures to ensure accountability within the engineering community.
He called for a re-evaluation of laws to hold professionals criminally accountable for lapses, saying that would help safeguard public safety and trust.
"JKIA was completed at a massive cost, but today, it's a shame to the engineering profession. Public resources were invested, and today we regret it. Perhaps we need to review the laws where professionals can be held criminally accountable for lapses,” Gachagua said.
The incident at JKIA stands as a reminder that public safety and trust hinge on the competence and ethics of those at the helm of engineering endeavours, he said.
Gachagua emphasised on the importance of cracking down on quacks in the engineering profession.
"I agree we need to deal with quacks. We have five per cent of engineers who lack integrity. They connive with contractors to compromise standards,” said the Deputy President.
Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen attributed the construction of substandard infrastructure to professional negligence.
"We renovated an airport in Nairobi, and it's already leaking before it is even commissioned. You may ask, who was in charge of the project to ensure the standards?" Murkomen posed.
The CS said there is need to enact legislation requiring a register for all projects, documenting the engineers overseeing each project.
This, he argued, would facilitate rigorous legal scrutiny and ensure accountability.
"We need a register for all projects and the engineers who are in charge of those projects, so that we can follow up on every project,” he said.
On Tuesday, Murkomen blamed the leaking roofs at JKIA on neglect and poor workmanship by contractors during the previous government of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Murkomen said the previous government did shoddy work in the maintenance of the JKIA and 12 other airstrips across the country.
He said they are now working to correct the mess.