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Sonko’s new minister accuses posh hotels in Westlands of polluting Nairobi River


The new County Executive Committee member in charge of the environment and natural resources in Nairobi has blamed the pollution of the Nairobi River on high end hotels in Westlands.

Ms Veska Kangogo, who took over the docket two weeks ago, says the job of reclaiming the filthy Nairobi river is made hard when big industries are the main culprits.

“How does Kenya Association of Manufacturers licence businesses that dump their waste in the river? When you present this beautiful financial results and ask us to toast to a good profits, why don’t you also tell us of the deaths you have caused?” Ms Kangogo asked during a conference on environmental management in Nairobi on Thursday.

She revealed that, during an exercise where the city’s drainages are being opened, it was discovered that high end hotels located in Westlands disposed of raw sewage into the river.

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“I don’t want to mention names, but those are among the places our delegates spend the night when in Kenya. Just ask yourself when you are enjoying your meal with that fork and knife, where the waste is being taken?” Ms Kangogo continued.

Several initiatives have been started in Nairobi in an effort to clean up the river, including the demolition of structures built on riparian land late last year.

According to Ms Kangogo, these efforts are futile if major industries do not stop their dumping activities.

A two-day conference has brought together players in environmental management and green economy from Kenya and four Nordic countries.

The Kenya Nordic Green Hub is an initiative to bring Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark on board with Kenya to look for and fund innovative ways to reduce carbon dioxide production in the country and general environmental conservation.