Revealed: Nairobi disaster management ‘a ticking time bomb’
Firefighters extinguish a huge inferno that engulfed shops in Juakali area near Nairobi City Stadium on January 30, 2023.
Nairobi City County's disaster management is near disaster, with 26 out of 31 fire engines and water tankers grounded due to delays in procurement of spare parts.
This has left Governor Johnson Sakaja's administration scrambling to deal with disasters and emergencies, with only two fire engines in operation amid frequent fire outbreaks across the county.
With a population of more than five million people, the Kenyan capital has been experiencing frequent fire outbreaks, with informal settlements— such as Kibera, Mathare and Kawangware— bearing the brunt.
In the report released on September 30, County Chief Officer for Disaster Management Bramwell Simiyu said 21 people have perished in 130 fire incidents were recorded from August 3 to September 21, 2024.
On Wednesday, Mr Simiyu told the Culture and Community Services Committee that more than 20 trucks had been grounded in central garage pending repairs.
“We have 26 vehicles which are grounded for things as simple as tyres, and break parts. We have had this conversation and we have pushed it. As we speak now we have only five operational fire engines covering the entire city,” Mr Simiyu said.
Out of what he termed as ‘five engines’ that are assumed to be working, only two are technically fire engines and the three are water tankers.
Minor repairs
The chief officer said the county garage was holding five engines which are in good working condition but require minor repairs, despite Mr Sakaja ordering their release.
“We have a few challenges with some of the grounded vehicles but we are working with the mobility sector to address the issue of repairs so that we can get more than 20 vehicles that are grounded back to operation,” he said.
Also, it emerged that two more fire engines have been grounded by insurance companies after they were involved in accidents.
During the committee session, it was revealed that the mobility department has largely contributed to the delay in response to emergency cases due to lack of fuel.
Residential areas in some parts of the county have also been blamed for being hostile to the fire brigade by blocking the way and at times attacking them for arriving late.
“There are some law income settlements where goons interfere with the work that we try to do, particularly in Kawangware, Korokocho and some of Mathare. We have members of the public who are not interested with the fire being put out.”
Access to fire hydrants is another challenge that the county is facing whenever there is fire incident.
Despite having more than 4,500 hydrants, Mr Simiyu said that barely 50 of them were working and the rest had been affected by continuous construction in the city as well as water theft.
“Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company took a decision last year to close many of the fire hydrants that we have been using because of the problem of water vendors and the closure of hydrants at Globe Cinema has really affected us,” Mr Simiyu said.
The committee members, led by Chairperson Clarence Munga were shocked by the response, saying that the residents and the business premises around the city are at risk in the event that fire breaks out any time.
To ensure that the lives of Nairobians and businesses are safe, Mr Munga gave a directive that Mobility sector, Nairobi Water, and the disaster department should jointly be summoned to appear before the committee again to explain why they are putting the lives of Kenyans at risk.
The committee also agreed with the Mr Simiyu that some of the challenges in the sector would be solved if the sector is allowed to operate independently and have its budget, unlike now being under the office of the governor, making it difficult to process risk allowance for the fire fighters.
The committee was also informed that the fire station at Gikomba Market is about 60 percent complete, and that a fire sub-station in Kibra is in operation.
The disaster sector was allocated Sh120 million in the current financial year, which is limiting the sector from working smoothly.
