A section of Kongowea residents in Nyali Constituency, Mombasa, are calling on the county government to intervene after a private developer allegedly destroyed a section of the stormwater system.
The residents want the construction works at the site adjacent to the community halted immediately, saying since the construction of a perimeter wall started, houses flood whenever it rains.
“We are over 20,000 people living in this area that have been affected over the years. Whenever it rains, water floods our houses. We have been lamenting about this issue ever since, but nothing has been happening,” said Khalid Salim, a resident.
Salim alleged that the land is a public road reserve that was illegally grabbed and blocked.
He said that the ongoing works at the site have destroyed the storm water system that has existed since colonial times and if works continue, it might be blocked completely.
“This storm water system serves the entire Kongowea and adjacent areas of Nyali, taking water to the ocean through the Bahari Club area. As they continue with the digging, the chamber located here is going to be completely destroyed meaning sewage water will no longer move,” he said.
Hamisi Ahmed, another resident, said that a majority of the families have lived in the area since the 1960s.
He said that they received promises before that the issue will be addressed, but to date, nothing has happened.
“The President (William Ruto) during his inauguration promised to deal with cartels once he puts down the Bible. We call on him to come here and deal with these cartels putting the lives of Kenyans at risk,” he said.
Nuru Muhfadh, another local, said that they had to dig a hole through the wall to allow water to get to the chamber of the storm water system.
“This is a waterway, how can one be allowed to build on it and block it? When it rains water gets into our houses making toilets flood. We won’t allow this to go on,” she said.
Muhfadh also called for the community to be issued title deeds, saying that they have been following up on the matter since the 1980s.
“I believe if we have titles, we won’t continue to have these problems. We also want the government to come here and see what is happening,” she said.
