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The clean-up is being undertaken in the five counties of Nairobi, Kiambu, Kajiado, Machakos and Makueni.
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The action plan has been developed by a group of stakeholders.
Image: FILE
The ongoing process to remove solid and liquid waste along the Nairobi River will require at least Sh7 billion, it has emerged.
In an action plan seen by the Star, more money that will go up to Sh20 billion is, however, needed for other interventions in the whole recovery strategy that will take six years.
The clean-up is being undertaken in the five counties of Nairobi, Kiambu, Kajiado, Machakos and Makueni.
The action plan has been developed by a group of stakeholders.
A total of Sh3 billion is required to tackle solid waste alone with the money being channelled towards rehabilitation of dumpsites and employment of youth for cleaning activities.
It will also be used for acquiring machinery to be used in the process, fuel, personnel, procurement and material recovery sites.
In Nairobi for example, over Sh900 million is needed, Kiambu (Sh486 million), Kajiado (Sh516 million), Machakos (Sh647 million), and Makueni (Sh433 million).
To deal with the sewerage problem, the commission requires a budget of Sh4.9 billion for rehabilitation and upgrading of existing sewers including putting up new connections and construction of new faecal points.
The money has been budgeted such that Kiambu will take the lion's share of Sh2 billion, Nairobi (Sh964 million), Kajiado (Sh725 million), Machakos (Sh304 million), and Makueni (Sh450 million).
It is expected that the Water Resource Authority will install beacons to curb future encroachments.
Some 62 million has been budgeted for geospatial-riparian mapping and Sh3 billion for drainage and hydrology.
Another Sh9 billion is needed for catchment protection, and restoration Sh9 billion whereas industrial and institutional waste will gobble up Sh11 million.
The regeneration plan has been clustered into three phases where immediate actions under phase one are set to be covered in eight months.
Phase two which entails the removal of solid waste from rivers and monitoring the dumping of waste along the river and waste recycling is set to be completed within eight to 24 months.
The main activities under phase three which is a period of 18 months to six years include community sensitization, operationalization of Dandora waste-energy plant and monitoring of recovery activities as well as the impact of restoration efforts on the biodiversity.
Some of the main players in the process are the national government and the five particular counties, Ministries of Water, Environment, Lands, Interior and Defense.
Others are the State Department of Devolution, Water Resource Authority, NYS, AWWDA, Nema, KeNHA, Kura, Kerra, NWHSA, county water utility companies, advisory services as well as the National Disaster Operations Centre.
Nairobi River Commission CEO Brigadier Joseph Muracia said recently that the thematic areas of the cleanup exercise include catchment protection and restoration, mapping and reclaiming riparian land and draining waste in the river.
President William Ruto, in Executive Order No. 1 of 2023, assigned Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua various roles, among them overseeing the restoration of the Nairobi River.
Pamela Olet is the chairperson of the commission.