Why environmentalists are casting doubts on Ruto’s Nairobi River cleanup efforts

There are doubts on whether President William Ruto’s Nairobi River Regeneration and Engineering Works Programme, to be implemented for Sh50 billion, will succeed in cleaning the river and providing employment to youths as touted.

Environmental lobby groups have criticised Ruto’s administration’s commitment to fighting environmental degradation and instead blamed it for actions that risk derailing efforts to save the country from the effects of environmental destruction.

On Monday, Ruto, while launching the project again for the second time, announced that it would create 40,000 jobs, up from the current 22,000 under the Climate Works Mtaani Initiative, in addition to constructing a 60km sewer line and 50,000 affordable houses in the reclaimed areas.

The Green Belt Movement, founded by the late Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prof Wangari Maathai, while celebrating Wangari Maathai Day, cast doubt on the government’s commitment to protecting the environment.

“We write to you today as a concerned non-profit organisation that was started in 1977 by Nobel Laureate Prof Wangari Maathai. As citizens, our hearts are heavy with both sorrow and urgency as we are deeply troubled by the current state of our nation’s environmental heritage, which once shone brightly,” the organisation said in a statement.

The group wants Ruto to reflect on policies that the government has instituted, which they argue will have devastating consequences on the environment if not revoked immediately.

“Mr President, how is it that Wangari’s dreams are now at risk of being eroded by policies and actions that seem to stray from the ideals of environmental justice, community empowerment, and sustainable development?” the lobby questioned.

The group, which is concerned about the government’s plans to appropriate 51.64 acres of Karura Forest for the construction of a road and the inaccessibility of Central Park in the city, wants commitment and concrete plans to protect the environment, rather than mere knee-jerk political pronouncements.

In February 2023, standing on the banks of the Nairobi River in Korogocho, Ruto vowed to do everything in his power to clean up the river and to “recapture its reputation as the clean, green city in the sun.”

Two years later, the project remains a dream, and the President is back again, this time leading a second launch of the project to relocate the sewers that run through the river.

“This is the day when we will launch a very big project in our city, Nairobi. It will start from Ondiri in Kikuyu to Dandora. In this project, more than 20,000 youth will get jobs in the Climate Works and Nairobi River Commission project,” President Ruto said.

According to the President, the success of the project “will get rid of solid waste, it will get rid of sewage that is destroying our houses, that has destroyed our roads, and that is damaging our city and our markets.”

President Ruto said that in the second phase of the project, both the national government and Nairobi County government would lay down a 60-square-kilometre sewerage line to prevent sewage from entering the river. Additionally, the National Youth Service will provide 50 trucks for use in the cleanup of the river.

Efforts to clean the Nairobi River date back to the Mwai Kibaki presidency. His successor, President Uhuru Kenyatta, also launched the Nairobi Regeneration Programme in 2017.

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• Climate Works Mtaani initiative
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Even after threatening to sack some senior government officials if the project failed, the river was never restored, and raw sewage continues to flow into it from industries and informal settlements around it.

Extending to Kiambu, Machakos, Kajiado, and Murang’a, the project entails river rehabilitation, flood mitigation, waste management and sewer line installation, as well as improving public health and urban resilience.

Director of Planning and Community Mobilisation at Mazingira Yetu Organisation, Sam Dindi, believes that the government must develop an elaborate plan that involves city residents in cleaning the Nairobi River.

“Nairobi County residents should know that through their actions and inaction, the Nairobi River basin will always remain polluted no matter the kind of cleanup taking place,” argues Dindi.

“It is high time that the government — at both national and county levels — developed a proper mechanism and policy that will involve residents in the cleanup of the rivers, beginning from their households through the separation of solid waste. Waste pickers and the recycling industry should be streamlined and supported to ensure no waste reaches the rivers or surrounding areas.”

Currently, the Nairobi River is choking on raw human, industrial, and medical waste. The waste in the river has replaced aquatic life forms, and the once-clear waters are now either black or grey in colour, emitting a sulphur-like smell that could make one believe that volcanic activity is occurring just beneath the ground.