Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura has defended Environment Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale following his remarks on Nairobi’s biggest polluters.

Speaking on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, Duale pointed an accusing finger at the middle class, whom he insisted pollute the Nairobi River.

Duale, who is among the Kenyan delegation attending the COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, absolved the informal settlers from the menace of pollution, which President William Ruto’s administration has stepped in to help address.

“Informal settlers are not the ones polluting the Nairobi River. It is the middle class who pollutes it because they have garbage. Those in the informal settlements don’t have garbage because they eat everything,” Duale stated at the sidelines of the summit.

Mwaura’s comments

Following Duale’s comments, a section of Kenyans online called out the Cabinet Secretary for segregating society instead of working to address the pollution issue.

Another bunch of Kenyans online claimed that CS Duale had degraded the informal dwellers by claiming that they eat everything.

However, Mwaura has come to his defence indicating that the comments were blown out of proportion. Mwaura explained that those living in informal settlements have mastered the art of recycling and re-using, unlike their counterparts who use it once and then dispose off.

Government spokespersons thus encouraged the middle class to embrace reusing and recycling.

“The comment by Environment CS Aden Duale has been blown out of proportion. What he meant is that Kenyans living in the informal settlements have mastered the art of recycling and re-using waste materials creatively. The govt encourages the middle class and all Kenyans to do the same,” Mwaura stated.

Meanwhile, Ruto recently launched an initiative aimed at cleaning Nairobi River. In a statement, he noted that 10,000 people work on the initiative a week.

He further announced plans to expand the programme in other counties.

The regeneration of the Nairobi Rivers Basin is progressing well. With nearly 20,000 young people working in the programme every month, garbage has been cleared in 75km of the 94km-stretch of the Nairobi, Ngong and Mathare rivers.

Additionally, 69km of the basin has been… pic.twitter.com/oB6RkFUywU

— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) November 12, 2024