In Nairobi, the rains keep falling — and with them, lives are being swept away.
So far, seven people have died in the capital city as a result of the ongoing rains.
A 23-year-old mother and her two children were among the first victims this week in Drive-In, Ruaraka constituency. The three died after a massive surge of floodwater engulfed their home.
Their deaths have become a tragic symbol of the destruction that has followed days of relentless rain across the city.
In Mukuru Kwa Reuben slums, another person was swept away by floodwaters. More than 500 residents at the informal settlement have been displaced.
Two more bodies were recovered in separate parts of the city — one from Ngong River near Likoni Bridge in South B, and another from floodwaters on Jogoo Road.
Public Service CS Geoffrey Ruku said at least 55 households have been directly affected by the floods in Ruaraka and nearly 200 residents displaced.
In Mathare 4A slum, one person died after a boulder, loosened by the overflow of a nearby river, collapsed on a house.
Nairobi police commander George Sedah said, “The boulder collapsed on the house due to the overflow of a nearby river, weakening its structure.”
With families mourning and neighbourhoods in ruins, the response from city and national leaders has been marred by blame-shifting and appeals for help.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has said his hands are tied, arguing the city’s drainage system was never designed to handle such volumes of rainfall.
“The sheer amount of rain that is coming down is higher than ever before, and a lot of our drains were designed for a smaller capacity of seasonal rain in the city,” he said in a televised interview.
The governor emphasised the urgent need for the national government to release the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF), saying counties like Nairobi — which manage more than 65 per cent of Kenya’s roads — are being sidelined.
“Everyone who buys fuel pays a levy. The levy is to fix roads. But all that money goes to national roads,” he said.
Sakaja also defended his administration’s efforts in dealing with the crisis.
“We got our Green Army,” he said, referring to 3,800 youth deployed to collect garbage and unblock clogged drains.
“They are doing a good job, but for real, we need to expand in some areas and look at the cost of it.”
In the meantime, CS Ruku has instructed the Special Programmes PS to convene a multi-agency meeting to craft immediate mitigation strategies.
“This is a heartbreaking tragedy. The government stands with the affected families and we are committed to taking all necessary steps to protect lives and livelihoods,” he said.
Relief food and essential supplies are set to be distributed immediately, and the government has pledged to implement more proactive measures in flood-prone areas.
