The Nairobi Rivers Commission has issued over 300 eviction notices to the public as part of the ongoing crackdown on land encroachment in the country.
According to Mumo Musuva, a commissioner of the Commission, the notices issued are only for the Nairobi River and its tributary, Kirichwa Kubwa.
He, however, explained that the crackdown did not stop at the tributary; rather, it will extend through Kirichwa, Baba Ndogo, Mathare River, Parklands, and Ngong River sections, and all other encroached lands.
“So far, we have mapped the areas, and we are going on through a multi-agency team effort to demarcate the riparian zones. We have issued so far over 300 notices, and that is only on the Nairobi River and its tributary of Kirichwa Kubwa,” Mumo Musuva explained during an interview with Citizen TV.
Additionally, the commissioner noted that the flooding crisis is not new and has recurred over the years, especially in Nairobi County.
Further, he argued that, having recorded other cases of flooding, the only difference in the recent flooding crisis was climate change and the increase in the volume of water going through the storm drainage system to the river.
Citing the volume of water, the commissioner emphasized that the increase in flooding across most regions of the county was due to densification and urbanization, a problem not only in Nairobi but countrywide.
In addition, the commissioner noted that the poor land use and planning in the city are one of the major causes of flooding.
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Nairobi Rivers Commission on Flooding
According to the commissioner, the impunity in the handling of the land matter, as well as the lack of understanding of how the riparian encroachment is contributing to floods by the public, enhances the crisis.
Mumo Musuva added that the public is ignorant and unwilling to vacate the flood-prone areas. Instead, they are justifying the reasons for occupying the areas.
In addition, Mumo emphasized that for most of the public who had received over 300 eviction notices to move their structures, the land had been allocated illegally.
Mumo argued that all city master plans during the planning of construction in Nairobi had left out the riparian areas.
Following the failure to map out the flood-prone areas, citing land ownership issues in the early 80s and 90s, Mumo emphasized that as politicians gained ownership, the land was allocated to the public, creating the current illegality of the structures.
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Eviction and Demolition of Illegal Structures
According to the commissioner the issuance of eviction notices and the demolition of structures in the riparian areas, the commissioner stated that the actions were carried out in accordance with the law and under court authorization.
The commissioner stated that the courts had, in most cases, ruled it illegal to build and encroach on the riparian areas.
He, however, added that the demolition process follows the fair administrative action process to ensure that the public is not disadvantaged.
To ensure the maintenance of fairness, the commissioner outlined that the process involves engaging the affected people through public participation.
Additionally, the commission provides a recourse process for affected people through the demarcation exercise before the actual enforcement of demolition.
Further, the commissioner emphasized that the process must be gazetted, as the current process was gazetted in the Gazette Notice 18375 in December 2025, which allowed for the establishment of the multi-agency team.
Through the Gazette notice, the commission, in coordination with the national and county governments, engaged the public and initiated the ongoing demarcation process.
