In the past one week, devastating flash floods triggered by heavy rains have claimed at least 28 lives in Nairobi alone, according to official police and government reports.
The tragedy began with torrential downpours on March 6, turning roads into rivers, submerging homes and vehicles, and in several neighbourhoods.
But Governor Johnson Sakaja has sparked debate after declaring that the capital city “was built on a swamp,” in a response as to why the city was recently overwhelmed with rain water.
“In as much as this goes into decades of issues of planning, the city really was built on a swamp,” Sakaja said. “A 100-year problem cannot be solved in three years.”
He insisted that Nairobi’s drainage system was designed decades ago for a much smaller population of around 500,000 people.
Today, with rapid urbanisation and a far larger city, the infrastructure simply cannot handle the intensity of current rainfall.“The drainage that we have is not built for this amount of rain,” he explained.
“There is no quick fix for this city; we are dealing with a generational infrastructure deficit.”Sakaja argued that Nairobi cannot be funded or fixed like any other county.
He called for stronger national-county cooperation and special financing, saying the city needs at least KSh60 billion annually, with a new agreement potentially unlocking up to KSh80 billion for major infrastructure upgrades.
“You must have a collaborative effort for the city; there is no other formula,” he said, adding that devolution does not mean treating the capital the same as smaller counties.
The governor defended his administration’s actions, including the controversial eviction of residents along riparian zones and the deployment of 4,500 “Green Army” workers to unclog drains daily blaming illegal dumping, littering, and encroachment for worsening the problem
