Cleaning Nairobi River needs proactive approach

Section of Nairobi River near in Kayaba slums. [File, Standard]

Cleaning the heavily polluted Nairobi River calls for more serious and concerted effort on the part of the National Environment Management Authority. Not for the first time, there have been perfunctory attempts to clean the river, yet the closest that came to being a reality was in 2008 when then Environment Minister John Michuki personally led the push. Success was registered when sections of a sparkling clean Nairobi River ran for a few months, then suffered a relapse after Mr. Michuki left the ministry.

Nairobi River is heavy with both human and industrial waste. Garbage from surrounding markets and informal settlements along the river bank is being dumped into the river, thus compounding the pollution menace. Accusing fingers point at some factories suspected of releasing industrial effluent into the only river that runs through a section of Nairobi city.