Glamorous Nyayo Estate taps still run dry, years on

Nyayo Estate’s water crisis that has lasted for years is far from over.

The occupants of the posh estate in Embakasi – developed by state agency NSSF – have told The Nairobian that little has been done to ensure there is constant supply of water.

“Nyayo Estate looks glamorous from the outside but it is chaos behind the closed doors, all because there is barely enough water for every activity that requires water. Some people have been forced to buy pumps against the instruction of the management office,” said a resident of the estate who did not want to be named.

The Nairobian learnt that those who have moved into the estate in the recent past are the ones grappling with a seemingly new problem.

“Those who moved here in the 1990s are the ones who have been through it all. They never had water at all from Monday to Monday so now they may say there is no problem at all if they get water two days consecutively,” a resident said.

Although NSSF dug six boreholes to supplement the water supplied by the Nairobi Water Sewerage Company (NWSC), the projects did not solve the problem. The chairman for the Nyayo Embakasi Residents Association (NERA), George Ochola, said: “The problem was definitely not solved to its finality but I can say that we are not at the same position we were in before the boreholes were dug.” Some residents later told The Nairobian NERA no longer represents the interests of the residents but has become a ‘public relations office for NSSF’.