Rains wreck havoc in Mukuru slums as Ngong River bursts banks
(File) Residents watch as a man risks his life to cross a flooded Ngong River, after the Kayaba/Hazina bridge in South B, Starehe sub-county, Nairobi, was flooded by rainwaters on March 23, 2023.
Dozens of families in Mukuru slums located in Makadara, Starehe and Embakasi South sub-counties stayed awake on verandahs and corridors and others given accommodation by their neighbors after their houses were flooded.
The heavy rain that fell on Saturday night in Ngong and Kibera resulted in havoc as Ngong river burst its banks flooding houses in the slums.
Affected were residents living in Fuata Nyayo, Commercial, Kenya Wine, Kayaba, Crescent, Budalangi, Maasai Village, Kwa Reuben., Kingstone and Lunga–Lunga slums.
The Kayaba/Hazina bridge that connects Entreprise and Aoko road from Kayaba Stage to Hazina Stage was swept by water forcing pedestrians to resort to use the footbridge which has not been officially completed.
Starehe Deputy Commissioner Mr John Kisang ordered residents living near the Ngong River to move to higher grounds and find safe places where the government had earlier sensitised residents to camp ahead of the rains.
“People should move away from Ngong River until the end of the rainy season. We don't want to lose someone's life,” Mr Kisang said.
As of yesterday, bodaboda riders were competing with residents using the narrow space at the Kayaba/Hazina pedestrian crossing.
“The misery of the bridge is due to the contractors working at a snail's pace in road project of a one-and-a-half-kilometer tarmac road which has now taken three years and has not yet been completed,” Mr Christopher Lunalo Madebu told the Nation.
Several companies from the Kwa Reuben bridge were also flooded.
At the Express area, soil dumped on the banks of the Ngong River was swept away by the water in large quantities as the water found its way downstream.
Although a huge destruction of property was witnessed, authorities have confirmed no loss of life was reported in the weekend incident.
The weatherman has predicted several parts across Kenya would receive more than average rainfall up to December.
