This archive report was first published on 28 August 2019.
Published on August 28, 2019, a recent series of stories in the Nation highlighted the alarming state of water pollution in Nairobi's rivers.
As a result, the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) has launched a crackdown on companies emitting effluents in rivers, but our fear is that this may be just a knee-jerk reaction to public outcry.
Authorities often resort to such reactions when a crisis unfolds, but quickly recoil into their own cocoons once the complaints abate.
It is essential that the environmental regulatory authorities intensify the clampdown and do so consistently and continuously, enlisting the support of other agencies and ministries.
Cleaning the environment is an existential challenge that cannot be handled casually, and it requires a sustained effort from all stakeholders, including the Judiciary and other arms of government.
Manufacturing plants that openly throw their waste directly into the rivers are licensed, and their activities are well known to the environmental agencies, but nothing ever happens to them.
It is time for this to change, and we demand that the authorities take concrete actions to address this issue.
