The verdict in the trial of the collapse of a slab of a building under construction at the Norbert Zongo University (UNZ) causing four deaths including three students fell on Wednesday January 10, 2024 at the High Court (TGI) of Koudougou. The company in charge of the work, Suzy construction, partner companies and people responsible on the site, found guilty, were sentenced to various penalties.
Ibrahim Baba Compaoré, Mouniratou Nana, Serges Alexandre Kaboré (students at the University Institute of Technology of Norbert Zongo University) and Ivon Agbo, of Beninese nationality, died on August 31, 2021 following the collapse of the slab of a building under construction at Norbert Zongo University (UNZ). Started on December 12, 2023 at the High Court (TGI) of Koudougou, the trial intended to shed light on the circumstances of their death in addition to the injuries of Stéphane Abdoul Bassirou Nonkané, delivered its verdict on Wednesday January 10, 2024. Thus, the Court declared the Suzy construction/Bin Sammar
CO Group (represented by the Suzy construction company in charge of the work), the Sata Afrique company and the Bureau Veritas company (two control firms), guilty of the acts of manslaughter and injuries involuntary. The court sentenced Suzy Construction and Sata Afrique to a firm fine of 2,000,000 F CFA each and Bureau Veritas, to a firm fine of 1,500,000 F CFA. The companies Suzy construction, Bin Sammar CO and their partners, the companies Sata Afrique and Bureau Veritas, are also jointly ordered to pay, as damages, 5,000,000 CFA francs to Stéphane Abdoul Bassirou Nonkané who emerged from the rubble with injuries . As for the beneficiaries of the late Agbo Ivon, a national of Benin, they will receive the sum of 10,000,000 CFA francs.
‘Relaxations’
Concerning the three other victims, the late Serge Alexandre Kaboré, Baba Ibrahim Compaoré and Mouniratou Nana, their beneficiaries will receive respectively 6,000,000 F, 7,000,000 F and 8,000,000 F CFA. These students worked on the site as part of their three-
month practical internship required to obtain the University Diploma of Technology (DUT) in civil engineering. The culprits are also ordered to pay a sum of 300,000 CFA francs to the beneficiaries of each of the four deceased people as expenses incurred and not included in the costs.
The people responsible for tasks at different levels of the site, namely Abdoulaye Somdakouma (works director), Sébastien Bayala (works manager), Abdoul Aziz Korogo (site manager), Gildas Fernand Comlan De Souza (head of the control mission) , Domahoun Ephrem (on-site controller of the damaged building) and Kanlié Cyrille Lompo (representative of the technical controller) are also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and involuntary injuries. Abdoul Aziz Korogo, Gildas Fernand Comlan De Souza and Domahoun Ephrem are sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended, and a firm fine of 500,000 CFA francs each. For their part, Abdoulaye Somdakouma, Sébastien Bayala and Kanlié Cyrille Lompo escaped with a suspended prison sentence of
12 months and a firm fine of 500,000 CFA francs each. According to the court, the Burkinabè State and the Norbert Zongo University of Koudougou are not involved in these proceedings. He therefore rejected the request for their joint conviction with the defendants to pay damages. The National Building and Public Works Laboratory as well as Apéou Gérard Abavri and Paulette Patricia Zeideh were dismissed from the prosecution for involuntary manslaughter and involuntary injuries for unconstituted offenses.
Source: Burkina Information Agency