Tough choices will save Nairobi River

Cleaning Nairobi River is an ambitious and difficult task, seeing as the partly-canalised main channel and some of its tributaries flow through the capital city, gathering pollution on their way east.

Thanks to hundreds of thousands of city residents living and working on their banks, the rivers are "choking with uncollected garbage, human waste from over-flowing sewers and informal settlements, industrial waste, agro-chemicals, petro-chemicals and metals from jua-kali micro-enterprises". This, United Nations Environmental Programme officers say, has led to the spread of water-borne diseases, reduced access to safe potable water, loss of livelihoods and the insidious effects of toxic substances and heavy metal poisoning on people living downstream.

The city’s growing population and the absence of proper environmental planning have meant past efforts to clean the river and restore the ecosystem have had limited success.

For a decade now, the Nairobi River Basin Programme (NRBP), an initiative that brings together the Government, UN agencies, the private sector and civil society, has been working to rehabilitate the riverine ecosystem.

The three-phase programme, scheduled for completion this month, has mostly succeeded in rousing public interest, mapping out and mitigating the problem.

For all the efforts made in the way of tree-planting, providing toilets, rallying communities to take part in clean-ups, promotion of cleaner production in industry and water quality monitoring, the river remains far from rehabilitated.

DRASTIC

The latest push to rescue the river basin, launched yesterday, takes more drastic action than has been contemplated before. Rather than continue to rely on the private sector and communities living and working on the riverbanks to conduct occasional clean-ups, Government plans to demolish 16,046 structures constructed along the riparian zones. An initial budget of Sh1.4 billion had been set aside for relocation of about 130,000 people.

Homes will be lost in sections of Kibera like Silanga, Lindi and Gatwekera as the Motoine river and the Nairobi Dam it pours into are protected. Opening up a 30-metre reserve on Ngong River, the branch that leaves the dam, means destroying homes in Mukuru Kayaba, Mukuru kwa Reuben and Mukuru kwa Njenga.

On the main channel and the Mathare tributary, the Majengo and Mathare slums will also see demolitions along with many informal businesses in the Ngara area. It may take more than the Sh15 billion budgeted to secure the main channel along with its streams, the Ruiru, Kamiti, Ruaka, Karura, Mathare, Gitathuru, Motoine-Ngong and Kirichwa.

Cleaning the river and keeping it clean is, after all, clearly tied to provision of affordable housing and alternative employment for many slum-dwellers.

By marshalling 17 ministries to this massive undertaking, PM Raila Odinga will give it a fair shot at success. However, the involvement of the private sector and bilateral partners is also important to ensure the resolve to act and own this initiative does not weaken once bulldozers roll up on informal settlements. Proposals such as NRBP’s ‘Adopt a Mile’ idea could be instrumental in ensuring continuous vigilance and monitoring of the river once the bulk of the clean-up work has been completed.

INDUSTRY

Finally, while reducing the influence of human settlements is important, the Government must keep in mind that much of the Nairobi River’s pollution comes from industry. On the Ngong River branch, for instance, the worst of the pollution comes after the river leaves the Mukurus and enters the Industrial Area.

Government must, therefore, have parallel efforts to clamp down on effluent, not just from jua kali businesses, but also from large industries that line some of the waterways.

What has proved challenging in the first decade of cleaning the Nairobi River basin can only be overcome by a willingness to make and enforce tough but practical decisions.