This archive report was first published on 22 April 2020.
Published on April 22, 2020, the government has taken steps to reclaim land grabbed from the Dandora Estate Waste Sewerage Treatment Plant in Ruai, recovering 1,214 hectares of land.
The plant, which serves as the only waste water treatment plant for the city, was first constructed in 1975. Its reclamation is part of the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation's efforts to handle sewerage needs and water supply to the 9.3 million residents of the Nairobi metropolitan area.
Only 50 per cent of Nairobi has sewerage coverage, leading to gross pollution of water sources, rivers, and the environment, endangering both the ecosystem and the people living in such areas.
With no alternative in finding land for such projects, the government has turned to remove the mole that has grown under its watch for decades.
The reclamation of the land coincides with Earth Day 2020 and is part of a larger effort to address the issue of land grabbing in Nairobi. According to a statement by the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, 62 per cent of land set aside for infrastructural development in Nairobi and its environs has been grabbed by private developers.
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