I will clean up Nairobi River in a year – Ruto

By Peter Ochieng 

President William Ruto has pledged to ensure Nairobi River becomes ‘sparkling’ clean within a year.

He announced that cleaning will be conducted in phases, with the first phase set to begin on October 1, 2024, employing up to 20,000 youth.

"In one year's time, we want the Nairobi River to change. The whole section along Nairobi River is going to be divided and we will ensure that there will be people at every stage. Our youth have an opportunity to contribute to the improvement of our environment,” said the Head of State.

He spoke during the launch of the Nairobi River Regeneration Project in Korogocho, Nairobi, adding that the plan will further be expanded in other major cities in Kenya, providing employment to thousands of young people.

"Building on this foundation we will extend the program to the four major cities. Kisumu, Mombasa, Eldoret and Nakuru within one month. And an additional 40,000 will be engaged with 10,000 of them allocated to other areas of Nairobi starting early November.”

Under the same breadth, he warned those polluting rivers to stop or face the full force of the law.

“Those entities that are polluting our rivers will be held responsible. The raw sewage coming from our public entities, the solid waste that is in this river coming from different places, on the basis of extended producer responsibility; each and every one of them will be held to account,” he warned.

“All of us, if you pollute the rivers, you must prepare to make sure that you are held to account and you pay for it so that we can keep the river clean and everybody becomes responsible for their behaviour. Know that you are going to pay for bad behaviour.”

About two years ago, President Ruto’s administration established the Nairobi Rivers Commission, tasked with reclaiming the rivers of Nairobi.