To tame annual flooding, we’ve got to do more than take stop gap measures

A flooded street in South C. South C became an underwater attraction we should start marketing to snorkelling tourists. PHOTO |DIANA NGILA

What you need to know:

  • The sad part is that, to protect Nairobi, we might have to pay farmers upstream to keep water-logged fields.  Nairobians will have to pay more farmers to grow trees rather than keep animals or grow crops. Such a measure will be cheaper than the alternative.
  • The global prognosis for the planet is one of increased flooding in the next 50 years. Climate change for most of the world means more flooding. The Caspian will swell monstrously, cities like Mumbai will fight for  their survival, countries like Bangladesh might cease to exist.

The rains that hit the country a fortnight ago were certainly unusual. South C became an underwater attraction we should start marketing to snorkelling tourists, a building crumbled in Huruma while in Westlands, some buildings had their ground floors flooded. In addition, bodies were found in rivers, walls collapsed and traffic jams that lasted forever.

At the Ukay Centre in Westlands, staff said they had been pumping out water for more than 12 hours. The car park next to Westgate Shopping Mall was being cleared by a Bobcat bulldozer.

The sheer scale of the destruction should clue us to the volume of the water that poured down.

We should absolve the governors of Nairobi and Mombasa, Dr Evans Kidero and Hassan Joho, of any wrongdoing as this was a once-in-a-decade type of flooding. Governor Kidero’s statement on floods blamed solid matter and seemed to blame  Nairobians.  The governor should have pointed out that these were extraordinary weather situations that require long-term thinking. Pulling out bottles and paper bags from gutters is only a stop-gap measure. Only the central government has the financial might and authority to sort out the infrastructural problems bedevilling the capital. The county government can only handle relief efforts.

The building of defences against this kind of increase in water will take time. The infrastructure push can  be done only by the central government.

We should also note that these once-in-a-decade events will become all too frequent.

FOREST LAND UPSTREAM

The four hottest years in half a century have all been in this decade. We have had bad floods in the past few years. The 2014 floods were horrible, as were the El-Niño rains last year and this latest iteration of the floods is just as bad. Some places had had their drains unclogged in anticipation of the rains, but that wasn’t enough.

This is becoming an annual event. Most of the year is bone-dry, but when it rains, it pours. 

Unclogging the drainage of gunk only makes the water move faster. It means that more water is dumped lower down the drainage system.  It is better to have less water coming in the first place.

To protect Nairobi, we need to hold the watersway back in Ngong Hills.

Rivers do not start on plains but on the highlands, so addressing the problem would start there.

Water sinks into the soil more when there are trees rather than when there is grass on the land. If we reforest more land upstream, we will have fewer problems downstream. 

The sad part is that, to protect Nairobi, we might have to pay farmers upstream to keep water-logged fields.  Nairobians will have to pay more farmers to grow trees rather than keep animals or grow crops. Such a measure will be cheaper than the alternative.

The floods can be dissipated on  plains where it is safe to flood. We need heavily forested flood plains as the river is coming down to town.

Some towns, though, should reconsider moving. Narok seems to have an annual nightmare because they destroyed the Mau forest. The video of a lorry being swept away gets stuck in your mind. Having a forest to soak up the rainwater act as flood plain for the river is cheaper than watching your home destroyed annually by floods that look like they are out of Noah’s tale.

The sight of flooded homes as featured in a recent DN2 cover story is devastating. It punctures the illusion of safety you have and stays long after the waters have been pushed out. There are destroyed housing appliances. You have to think of temporary living quarters, increased premiums, the long cleaning-up period and fear every time the long rains arrive.

During the Second World War, the Allies found out that destroying factory workers’ homes as they watched on helplessly did more to demoralise them than sending back their sons from the frontline in boxes. We love our homes and feel particularly vulnerable when the floods creep in. Our homes are where our hearts are. 

GREATER CONCERN

In Kenya today, the greatest challenge we face due to climate change is flooding and famine. A warming planet will lead to a water deficit in Eastern Africa. Every dry season should be thought of as acute until proven otherwise, and every rainy season should be presumed a flood until it peters out.

If the government were serious about infrastructure, Mombasa flood defences would be a lot more important than the Standard-Gauge Railway.

Our second most populous city is in the line of rising waves and increased torrents and will be ground zero for battling the rising seas.

Every shilling spent fighting flood waters saves several shillings in future damage.

The sea once swallowed whole chunks of the earth and it will do so again. The story of great floods is omnipresent in our cultures for hundreds of years. Our coastal cities are in danger of slipping under the waves. Our greatest battle will be against rising waters and drying lands.

The global prognosis for the planet is one of increased flooding in the next 50 years. Climate change for most of the world means more flooding. The Caspian will swell monstrously, cities like Mumbai will fight for  their survival, countries like Bangladesh might cease to exist, and the belt around the equator dries up as temperate lands get really wet. We will also get to see the outer limits of Dutch engineering; can these modern-day King Canutes really keep the flood waters at bay indefinitely, or will they have to move to higher ground?

Floods and flooding will become a greater concern to us all and we, as a planet, have  to start thinking long-term about the issue.

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OPEN GOVERNMENT? 

Prepare to be pacified next year 

A LONG TIME ago when it seemed like change was in the air, Alexis Tsipras did something revolutionary.

When he was elected to head the Greek government, Prime Minister Tsipras removed the bars surrounding Parliament. He also removed riot police from around the Hellenic Parliament. Why did Parliament need protection from the people?

The opposite seems to be happening in Kenya. In the past year we have seen roadblocks set up next to Parliament. There is a new razor wire along the wall on one side of Parliament. Now we have those three, green anti-riot monstrosities that I saw recently prowling the city streets brought in to enforce the peace. 

It doesn’t look like another win for the open government we keep hearing about.

Getting such a bruiser on the day when the Opposition is leading a demonstration seems like a direct thumbing of the nose at democracy.

This government was recently fêted for being the most open in Africa. Perhaps in the digital realm. In meat-space it still closed.

Prepare to be pacified in 2017.

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POLITICAL CRIME 

The finality of a rape conviction 

I WATCHED A documentary on Mike Tyson and Tupac Shakur. Shakur was murdered after leaving the hotel where he had watched Tyson win back his heavyweight title.

The film drew parallels between the two men and even points out that both had served time for rape.

It is interesting that Iron Mike and Shakur both salvaged their reputations after being accused and jailed for sexual assault. Shakur died a martyr and his rape case is all but forgotten.

Tyson was famously allowed to fight and regain his heavyweight title after serving his term. He appears in movies, has a documentary and an interesting one-man play, proof that his reputation is now safe.

Compare Tyson’s case with that of footballer Ched Evans. The Welsh footballer was accused of rape and jailed for it. Even after serving time, he couldn’t return to play football because no team would touch him. He even tried to play for free but no one wanted him.

Sunderland wouldn’t even let him train on a football pitch.

The subtext was simple: if you are in favour of a man who has done time going back to his chosen profession, you are pro-rape.

To argue that Evans had served his time is to be even more in favour of rape since no amount of jail time fits the crime. No one dare think that prison can rehabilitate a man where rape is involved.

Rape is a vile crime. It is rightfully the most serious crime after murder.

Authorities everywhere have been horrible in handling the matter.

However, the zealousness seems to be swinging too much in the other direction. Police automatically must believe the rape allegations and act upon them.

In Kenya, minors fooling around have the boy carted off to court for defilement.

In the time between Tyson and Evans, rape has become not merely wrong, but unforgivable, with the culprit unable to rejoin society.

Rape has become a political crime and merely offering an opinion such as “It is ridiculous to suggest that all rape cases must first be believed then investigated,” can get you into trouble with right-thinkin who have undergone gender-sensitivity training.