Meeting with Nairobi Rivers Commissioners
Courtesy visits can feel like protocol on paper; in person they are handshakes, notebooks, and the quiet negotiation of who will actually walk the riverbank next week. ETCO CEO Collince Onyango arrived at the Nairobi Rivers Commission alongside Lang’ata MP Phelix Odiwuor — Jalang’o — to talk shop about water, waste, and the people who live in between.
Chairperson Dr Pamela Olet welcomed the delegation; Brig. Joseph Muracia (Ag. CEO) and Commissioners Eva Muhia and Mumo Musuva joined the table. Jalang’o reaffirmed that his office would work through local administration to keep communities in the loop — not as an afterthought, but as the front line where cleanup lives or dies.
Jobs, dignity, legacy
Conversation kept returning to two rails: protect the environment, and open employment that makes protection possible. A president’s legacy was mentioned — not as gossip, but as a reminder that rivers outlast campaigns. For ETCO, the takeaway is simple: partnerships matter, but community labour is the currency that clears a channel.
Commission leadership listened — Dr Olet’s chair, Brig. Muracia’s operational notes, Commissioners Muhia and Musuva adding local texture. These are not glamorous meetings; they are how Nairobi’s river politics touch soil: who gets hired, which ward gets trucks first, which community leader is trusted to call a crowd without inciting chaos.
ETCO left with a sharper sense of where community voices must sit in those plans — not as decoration at a launch, but as people who know which informal path floods first. If you live along a tributary, join a neighbourhood crew; your eyes are data the commission cannot buy.
Project Site Visit by Rotary Club of IPSWICH (USA) and Kikuyu (Kenya)
It was a great and engaging day of partnership and learning as we hosted the International Rotary Club of IPSWICH team, led by Environmental Lawyer Chris and his wife, Jane, Former President of Rotary Club of Kikuyu Hon. George Ngotho and Rotarian Yumbya for a visit to our project implementation sites. The visit provided an opportunity to review the project areas on the ground, discuss implementation priorities, and strengthen our shared commitment to sustainable environmental and community development. We also had the opportunity to visit the Nairobi Rivers Commission (NRC), where we were hosted by Commissioner Dr. Loice Kipkorir, a member of the Ngong River Committee. We explored opportunities to strengthen collaboration and align our work with the Nairobi Rivers Commission's Restoration Framework.
Community Capacity Building Training
We are currently participating in the ongoing PROVE (Public Space Governance Research, Observation, Validation and Experimentation) Pilot Programme, a four-month initiative by Public Space Networks (PSN) bringing together 11 community groups from Kamukunji and Korogocho. The programme focuses on strengthening community organizations’ capacity to manage, protect and improve public spaces as well as restoring rivers and it's ecosystems. The ongoing capacity-building training is helping CBOs and community organizations better understand the connection between public spaces, river restoration and ecosystem conservation, while exploring practical approaches and stronger collaboration among communities, government agencies, development partners and other stakeholders.
High Level NRC & Development Partners Meeting
Representing the Ngong River Regeneration Network, I'm having the privilege of attending a high-level breakfast meeting convened by the Nairobi Rivers Commission (NRC) in collaboration with the Kenya Permanent Mission to UN-Habitat. The meeting has brought together Development Partners, Government Agencies, Private Sector representatives, and Community representatives to deliberate on the restoration and sustainable management of Nairobi’s rivers.