Of riparian land and moral crisisby Bonface Obuba | 18-11-2018 20:18 |
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 Of riparian land and moral crisis The Nairobi River which passes through Kenya's capital is literally a conduit of solid waste and black water. A glimpse of this watercourse will gross out anyone. This is a result of unscrupulous citizens building on the riverbanks and locals illegally dispensing off of solid and liquid waste into the river under the cover of darkness. This has been a grave issue for years. Previous governments have tried to reclaim the sanity of this river but it is still egregiously polluted. Consequently, in 2017, the Kenyan Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA) set aside a sum of KSh2.5 billion to clean rivers, Nairobi and Athi in Nairobi and Machakos counties respectively. Backed by the Nairobi County government, demolitions of buildings erected on riparian reserves which include business premises and residencies have been taking place. Moral crisis Out of these demolitions, a moral crisis has arisen. Some of the settlers actually legally build. They have legitimate land titles and building certificates. You wonder how this happened in the first. There is obviously a serious integrity breach and it is from the inside. Some individuals in authorities charged with stewardship of riparian reserves are compromised. They receive bribes and approve the construction of illegal structures. More to that alleged unfairness has been displayed where influential people are spared in the demolition process. This reflects badly on us as a society. |
