Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has attributed the city’s frequent flooding and drainage woes to outdated infrastructure and insufficient funding. Speaking in an interview with Citizen TV, Sakaja explained that Nairobi’s current drainage system was not designed to accommodate the intense and unpredictable rainfall the city is now experiencing.
“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 noted, pointing to the strain on the system during recent downpours.
Governor Sakaja highlighted that while his administration has implemented interventions to manage the situation, more substantial investments are urgently required. He emphasized the need for the national government to release the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) to support urban infrastructure upgrades, particularly for county-managed roads.
“Everyone who buys fuel pays a levy. The levy is to fix roads,” Sakaja stated. “In our country, we have two categories mainly: national and county roads. County roads are more than 65 per cent of all the roads, but all that money goes to national roads.”
His remarks underscore growing concerns among county leaders who argue that counties, being directly involved in road construction and maintenance, deserve a fair share of the RMLF. They believe that better resource allocation could improve infrastructure resilience, especially in cities like Nairobi that are grappling with the effects of climate change.
In defense of his administration’s efforts, Sakaja dismissed claims that he had failed to act on the flooding crisis. He cited the deployment of the county’s “Green Army” a team of 3,800 youth involved in garbage collection and unclogging drainage channels as evidence of ongoing proactive measures.
Nonetheless, the debate over who should control infrastructure funds continues. President William Ruto recently reiterated that the national government is best positioned to manage the RMLF to ensure effective allocation and reduce inefficiencies caused by overlapping responsibilities.
As Nairobi endures another rainy season, the need for a coordinated and well-funded response has never been more apparent.
