Experts to Sakaja: A beautiful city needs proper drainage

For several months, there has been ongoing beautification of the city centre, particularly replacing old walkways with cabro stones, a development which has become Governor Johnson Sakaja's pet project.

While some residents observe that the city’s look has evolved from downtown to uptown, experts are warning that this could be a disaster in waiting as the clock ticks towards anticipated El-Nino rains.

The forecast comes at a time when memories of unforeseen rains that left 20 people dead in 2025 are still fresh in the minds of Nairobi residents with others still nursing lifetime scars after being rescued while trapped in floods.

And now some experts, including town planners and valuers, are warning that too many cabros in the city, without factoring in enough spaces to channel water out of the central business district, is akin to courting disaster.

They argue that unlike developed cities, drainage within Kenya's capital city is still wanting, even as leaders pour millions to make the surfaces attractive.

Alex Moseti, a seasoned valuer, says the nearest drain zone is the Nairobi River and putting a lot of cabros on the pavement affects water absorption, meaning the new pavements will be an overflow route for the storm drainage.

“I think the best way would be if we could have a provision of maybe some stockpits, meaning a big hole where water can get in, and the water is collected. It channels straight to there to the Nairobi River,” observes Moseti

Mairura Omwenga, the chairperson of town planners, argues that covering the ground with cabro, bitumen or tiles reduces the infiltration of the surface overspill into the ground.

“We certainly require that our city be made more beautiful, cleaner, but also as we do that, we must then also take into account that as we cover the ground, there is need to make sure that there is attendant improvement in the drainage system to be able then to carry the increased surface runoff,” argues the town planner

He observes that as the county prioritises cabro walkways, it is important to incorporate the greenery, citing that this is part and parcel of that improvement.

“So that it's not all just about the paved areas with the curb but that within that we also incorporate some greener areas which will also reduce the amount of surface overflow, but it will also make the city more beautiful and green,” he shared

“The city centre is a high concentration of motor vehicle exhaust fumes thus, the vegetation will absorb the high concentration of fumes,” he added.

The focus on city centre beautification comes at a time when Nairobi County Assembly Chairperson for Urban planning Godfrey Majiwa raised concerns over how the initiative was arrived at.

Through a request for a statement, Majiwa, the former Nairobi mayor, sought to understand how the project is funded and who is behind the multi-million shillings tender.

“While the project is expected to improve the environment and facilitate economic activities, there is public interest regarding the procurement process, scope of works, project timelines, value of the money,” Majiwa stated.