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Will it work? Ruto launches second phase of Nairobi River clean up
President William Ruto delivers a speech with Nairobi River in the background in 2024.
In February 2023, standing on the banks of the Nairobi River in Korokocho, President William 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 is still 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 all the way to Dandora. In this project, more than 20,000 youth will get jobs in this project of Climate Works and Nairobi River Commission,” President Ruto said.
According to the President, the success of the project “will get rid of solid waste, it will get rid of sewage which are destroying our houses, which have destroyed our roads, destroying 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 kilometers sewerage line that will prevent sewage from entering the river. Also, the National Youth Service will take part by providing 50 trucks to be used in the cleanup of the river.
Unsuccessful attempts
Waste dumped on a section of Nairobi River in this picture taken on September 15, 2024.
Despite unsuccessful attempts from the previous administrations to clean up the river and to turn it into one of the tourist attraction sites in the City, President Ruto has expressed his confidence that this time, under his watch, he would walk the talk.
Additionally, the president announced that the government will construct modern affordable houses on the spaces which were cleared when the government evicted people living on riparian land.
Deputy President Prof Kithure Kindiki reiterated that evictions from the banks of the river paved way for the clean-up exercise.
“This project will provide job opportunities to our youth. This project will improve the state of Nairobi County to the level of other cities,” Prof Kindiki said.
The efforts to clean Nairobi River have been undertaken from as far back as the Mwai Kibaki presidency. His successor, President Uhuru Kenyatta, also launched the Nairobi Regeneration Programme in 2017.
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.