Gachagua, Sakaja to unveil Nairobi Rivers Commission

By Erick Ludeya

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua together with Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja will this month unveil members who will constitute the Nairobi Rivers Commission.

The commission is one of the agencies created by State House and domiciled under the office of the Deputy President.

Governor Sakaja told The Times that the DP’s office is working closely with City Hall to set up a well balanced team.

Sakaja said that the national government and City Hall will each contribute half the members and the same formula used in funding the agency.

“ We are working closely with the DP’s office and we will soon unveil the members before we kick off our work,’ Sakaja said.

The Nairobi Rivers Commision is expected to oversee the restoration of Rivers in the capital city; most of which have been depleted because of the intense urbanization activities.

The commission is expected to lead clean up exercises of the endangered and largely polluted Nairobi River.

The formation of the commission is just but a repeat of similar efforts by past regimes that have created agencies or programs that ended up being cash cows.

Critics argue that the formation of the commission will lead to duplication of roles because its functions can be done by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).

In 2019,NEMA  closed down four firms for discarding waste into Nairobi River.

The firms were Apex Coating EA, Thorlite Kenya, Modern Lithography and Kamongo Kenya Paper Ltd.

Such firms are required to install a proper wastewater treatment system and submit a wastewater analysis report.

Ex-governor Mike Sonko formed a monthly cleanup of the Nairobi River the program was faced by a myriad of challenges.

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