Nairobi County Assembly members have criticized the Nairobi Rivers Commission for its slow progress in cleaning up the city’s rivers nearly two years after the agency’s launch.
Despite substantial funding, the rivers remain filled with waste, raising questions about the commission’s effectiveness and potential misuse of funds.
Nairobi South B Ward Representative and Deputy Minority Leader, Waithera Chege, has called on City Hall to clarify its role in managing the rivers and disclose any financial costs incurred to date. She urged the Environment and Natural Resources Committee to investigate whether there is genuine collaboration between the county executive and the commission on river conservation.
Chege also criticized the city’s leadership, stating, “Nairobi has become uninhabitable, yet we constantly see its leaders accompanying the President to almost every event. It’s possible they are providing him with inaccurate information about the situation.”
President William Ruto established the Nairobi Rivers Commission in December 2022 as a collaborative effort between the national government and Nairobi County to reclaim and restore the polluted rivers.
During the agency’s launch, President Ruto announced that the Ministry of Environment, working with the county, would employ at least 12,000 young people and women to engage in cleanup activities and tree-planting along the rivers.
Most recently, another cleanup drive was launched on Mazingira Day this October, with Environment and Forestry Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale pledging to complete the effort within 18 months. This ongoing project spans the full length of the Nairobi River, from Naivasha Road to Athi River at Z-corner in Juja Farm.
On Tuesday, President William Ruto hosted MPs from Nairobi County at State House, Nairobi, to discuss the progress of the Nairobi River rehabilitation project.
The President urged the lawmakers to put politics aside and support the project, which he believes will transform the capital city’s landscape.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo, Lands PS Nixon Korir, and Housing PS Charles Hinga also attended the meeting.
The meeting follows President Ruto’s recent appointment of former Starehe MP Margaret Wanjiru as the new chairperson of the Nairobi Rivers Commission, announced two weeks ago.
In a gazette notice dated October 25, 2024, the President stated that the commission would oversee efforts to protect, restore, rehabilitate, and beautify Nairobi’s rivers.
