Nairobi Mobilizes Thousands to Clear Drains Before El Niño

Nairobi's county government has deployed more than 4,000 workers to clear drains and dismantle structures ahead of the strongest El Niño event on record, forecast to peak in November or December. The workers, part of a youth-employment program known as the Green Army, are shifting from trash collection to flood preparation as Kenya braces for the rainy season. Bramwell Simiyu, the county's chief officer of disaster management, said the county is staging supplies and evacuation centers, and preparing for a scenario in which 20,000 households may be affected, mostly in low-income settlements.

The push follows a deadly 2025 rainy season, when more than 100 people died in flash floods in March. Nairobi's drainage system, Simiyu said, was built for a population of no more than 2 million. The city's daytime population now approaches 7 million.

Workers have spent recent weeks widening a drainage ditch along a busy road near the city center where clothing stalls line the street. Piles of fabric and plastic bottles often collect in the stream, blocking water flow. Alex Oyando, 30, a Green Army worker, said removing the blockages keeps water moving.

"The best thing to do is to be prepared," Oyando said. "These drainage troughs are full of different things. When we remove the dirt, the water can flow, and it prevents flooding."

Kenya's federal government has committed $385 million to widen Nairobi's waterways, build affordable housing and upgrade trash collection and sewers by the end of 2027. The program also funds Climate WorX, a national youth employment effort working alongside the Green Army on El Niño preparations.

The county has also moved to demolish unauthorized food stalls and kiosks built without permits in riverside settlements. Tobias Sifuna, who supervises Green Army teams in the Kamukunji area, said the structures cannot remain. "These are small kiosks that are built illegally, by the community, without the authorization from the county government," Sifuna said.

The demolitions have drawn complaints from residents who depend on the stalls for meals and income. Wycliffe Ochieng, 32, a fruit vendor, said workers in central Nairobi can no longer buy affordable hot lunches. Ochieng lost his own grocery stand in last year's flooding, and a friend who owned a food stall died as she tried to escape. He rebuilt in a different neighborhood, where customers did not know him. "When the flood came, all the food stalls were swept away," Ochieng said. "After the flood I really suffered. It was hard to put food on the table." He said he fears the next El Niño could finish what the last one started.