Over 1000 illegal structures demolished in Nairobi

At least half of the buildings built on riparian land have been brought down since demolition began in Nairobi over two weeks ago.

Julius Wanjau, head of the multi-agency team carrying out the demolitions, said that over 1,000 such structures have either been flattened by his team or through voluntary individual initiatives.

He said that most of the structures are part of the over 2,000 structures that had been earmarked for demolition by the multi-agency task force and had been served with notice.

“Many people that had marks on their buildings have demolished most of the marked areas themselves making our work easier now. Kileleshwa, Kobumunyiri behind Kamukunji Police Station, and Kiruga area have had such individual demolitions,” said Mr Wanjau.

The head of Nairobi regeneration committee command centre explained that several of the illegal buildings and walls have been sitting right on the river bed contrary to environmental laws that set a distance of 30 metres between riparian land and human activities.

This comes as the team embarked on the second instalment of demolition of South End Mall after the clearing of the multi-million mall had stalled on its second day due to lack of fuel with officers who were carrying out the exercise getting stranded after they were told the machines had not been fuelled.

The ongoing demolitions started three weeks ago. About 4,000 buildings were earmarked for demolition in an operation to clear illegal structures from river banks in Nairobi.

In June, the parliamentary committee on environment and natural resources identified Limuru Road, Lang’ata Road, Arboretum Road, Spring Valley, Globe Cinema Round-About, Riverside Drive, Westlands, Parklands, Fuata Nyayo estate in South B, Village market, Gem Suites in Riverside and Alina Villas in Spring Valley as some of the areas with developments sitting on river banks.

The regeneration exercise received Sh800 million for the 2018/19 financial year.