Three landlords have been arrested for encroaching on Michuki Memorial Park land.
The trio was apprehended on Saturday following an operation by officials from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and law enforcement officers.
According to NEMA Director-General Mamo B. Mamo, their properties sat on riparian reserves and the structures were discharging untreated waste into Nairobi River at Kirichwa River.
NEMA has advised 16 affected tenants to vacate the houses until proper measures are taken by their landlords.
The structures were also discharging untreated effluent directly into Nairobi river at the Kirichwa river. The team of inspectors led by DG Mamo B. Mamo also ordered the 16 affected tenants to vacant the houses until the landlords connect to the sewerage system. @Environment_Ke pic.twitter.com/jz9DHAMqOH
— NEMA Kenya (@NemaKenya) August 15, 2020
This comes a day after President Uhuru Kenyatta officially opened the park that was renamed from Mazingira Park in honour of fallen John Michuki.
“We have moved it from a safe haven for criminals to a place of serene beauty and peace; from blackening waters of Nairobi river to a swimming destination for ducks and mudfish; and from a lifeless habitat to a life-supporting ecosystem, leading to the re-emergence of birds,” Uhuru said.
The reopening of the park, the head of state said, was a way of re-making the “city in the sun”.
“We are here to affirm that a city is not great because of its lofty and towering brick-and-motor assets. A city is great because its citizens are great; and its environment is great.
“We did not enforce the civic responsibility of the citizen to take care of the green spaces. And the citizens of Nairobi city were not organized enough to protect it. Because of this, and the rapid growth of ‘concrete spaces’ over the ‘green spaces’, there was a collapse of civic order and national duty in the city.”
The government, he said, aims to revamp other green spaces including; the Nairobi Arboretum, Karura Forest, City park and Ngong Road Forest.
