Sakaja backs call for Nairobi Dam residents to move out immediately as breach risk grows

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has thrown his weight behind the Water Resources Authority's order for residents living downstream of Nairobi Dam to relocate immediately, warning that a breach could cost lives if the rains continue.

"If Nairobi Dam was to burst its banks today, we would lose so many lives," Sakaja said.

He added that some residents would have to move, urging them not to be swayed by political voices telling them to stay put.

WRA issued the precautionary notice on March 20, 2026, under the Water Act 2016.

Numbered 003840 and signed by Noel Ndeti, the authority's Ad-Sub Regional Coordinator, the notice warns that rising water levels in the reservoir threaten to breach the dam's embankment.

The compliance deadline given is immediate, and residents are required to notify WRA once they have relocated.

The March 20 order is not the first alert.

Around March 10, Government Spokesman Isaac Mwaura had already placed residents on high alert as WRA conducted a technical assessment of the dam, citing rapidly rising water levels.

Built in 1953 on the Nairobi River in Kibera, the dam sits roughly 5 kilometres southwest of the city centre.

Its reservoir has a storage capacity of 98,000 cubic metres and an average depth of just 2.76 metres, meaning it fills rapidly during sustained rainfall.

The communities most immediately downstream include Kibera, Nyayo Highrise, Dam Estate, Lang'ata, Nairobi West, and Madaraka.

Further along the river's path, residents of Mukuru Kwa Njenga, Mukuru Kwa Reuben, Viwandani, South B, Pipeline, Embakasi, and Industrial Area are also in the flood path.

These are among the most densely populated parts of Nairobi.

The dam has carried structural and environmental concerns for decades.

Water in the reservoir has been unfit for use since the 1980s, heavily contaminated by sewage runoff, largely from Kibera's dense settlements which have grown around the dam over the years.

Nairobi has been experiencing widespread flooding since early March 2026, with rivers across the county bursting their banks and displacing thousands of residents.

The Kenya Meteorological Department has forecast continued heavy rains across much of the country.

Residents in all downstream areas are urged to move to higher ground immediately and to notify WRA once they have done so.