Save us from toxic private developer, Ngong residents tell Tobiko

Residents of Bondeni area in Ngong, Kajiado county, are now calling on the Environment ministry to intervene and restore Ngong River.

The residents say the water in the river has become poisonous, posing great risk to residents' health.

The residents who spoke to the Star said they are losing their animals and crop as private developers upstream discharge raw sewerage in the river.

According to them, a private developer has become a thorn in their flesh.

The developer is accused of releasing the effluent from its two bedroom apartment project to the river.

Residents say the development with 20 units has no sewerage system and all the waste is directed to the river.

As a result, they said they have been exposed to frequent cholera and diarrhea episodes as they have no other source of water other than the river. 

Since 2015 when the apartment was completed, the residents say they have been making demands for action to be taken but all have fallen on deaf ears.

Some of the residents now say they fear for their lives as they are now being threatened for raising their concerns on pollution of the river.

In 2017, the residents, through Kipkenda and Co. Advocates, sent a letter to the developer complaining about raw sewage being discharged in the river and adjacent property.

The advocates then said the discharge was not only causing a nuisance to the residents but also causing pollution to the environment and ill health to the public.

The residents had accused the developer of refusing, failing and ignoring to stop the illegal emission of the sewerage despite several demands.

"Take note that every person has an obligation to promote the protection and conservation of the environment. Any further discharge of effluent must be made into existing sewerage system or disposal sites," the demand letter stated.

After this demand letter, the developer is said to have temporarily stopped the discharge into the river and the surrounding property.

In 2018, the advocates wrote the developer another demand letter after it was discovered that the raw sewerage was again being discharged in the river.

The developer is said to have since then ignored the demand letters.

The residents said their efforts to seek redress from the officers have been futile since then.

"We have been informed that the developer hosts them (Nema officials) to a lunch on monthly basis and treats them well. Since we are poor we have no one to offer us just a listening ear," one of the residents said.

It is said the developer has identified those who are pushing her to the wall and using powerful forces to threaten and intimidate them.

We made efforts to reach out to the developer but our calls went unanswered.

Nema Acting Director General Mamo B Mamo refuted the claims, saying the matter had not been brought to their attention.

"The matter has not been brought to our attention As we speak I have deployed teams on the ground to investigate and will give detailed information once I have been adequately briefed," he said.

Mamo said action will be taken if it is established that some of the officers have been compromised.