Nairobi, Kenya – April 23, 2025 – Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has promised major improvements to the city’s roads and drainage system after the current rainy season ends.
Speaking during a TV interview on Wednesday, April 23, Governor Sakaja admitted that Nairobi has had a long-standing problem with floods due to poor drainage. He said residents will start seeing real changes from mid-June 2025, once the heavy rains stop.
“In a few months, when the rains stop in mid-June, Nairobians will see a big change. I promise,” said Sakaja.
He explained that no governor wants bad roads, because they also live in the city and use the same roads. But he stressed the need for proper planning, governance, and funding to fix the problems.
Governor Sakaja said that Nairobi’s drainage system was designed during colonial times and cannot handle the current amount of rainfall. The city has grown rapidly, and more buildings and roads have replaced open land. This causes more water runoff and increases flooding.
“The rains are heavier now. Our old drains were made for light, seasonal rains in a much smaller city,” he said.
The Governor also responded to complaints about flooding on major roads like Mombasa Road and Uhuru Highway. He said these are national roads, not under the county government’s control.
“I heard the complaints. But those roads are managed by the national government, not the county,” Sakaja clarified.
Sakaja said the county has hired over 3,800 young people to help clean drains and remove garbage. But he admitted that more needs to be done and that there is often poor coordination between national and county agencies.
For example, in Parklands (Ojijo Road and Kipande Road), a drainage mismatch caused flooding. A large 1.2-meter pipe built by KeNHA connects to a smaller 0.6-meter pipe, causing blockages. Sakaja said he advised KeNHA to add another 0.6-meter pipe to fix the issue — and it worked.
Sakaja also said many roads the county tries to fix are technically managed by national agencies like KURA and KeRRA, but the public still blames the county when problems happen.
He supported recent remarks by Raila Odinga, who questioned why the national government controls roads in the Nairobi CBD. Sakaja said more funds and responsibilities should be given to counties.
“There are more county roads than national roads — about 65% — but most money still goes to national roads,” he said.
He added that the issue of who should manage Nairobi’s roads is now being decided in court.
Flooding in Nairobi is caused by:
- Rapid urban growth without proper planning
- Blocked drains due to illegal garbage dumping
- Construction on wetlands and riverbanks
- Open drains used as garbage sites
- Developers ignoring drainage rules
Many buildings are too close to rivers or wetlands, which once helped absorb rainwater. Now, these areas are covered in concrete, causing even more rainwater to flow into roads and neighborhoods.
