THE DEVASTATING FLOODS AND THE FAILURE OF GOVERNANCE IN KENYA

Fellow Kenyans,

Today, my heart is heavy as I join all Kenyans in mourning the over 40 lives lost to the devastating floods this weekend, among them four innocent children.

To every family sitting with that grief today, I am deeply sorry.

But grief must lead to action. Year after year, our people die in floods that were foreseeable. This is not simply the work of nature; it is also the consequence of a government that has become utterly uncaring about the consequences of neglecting responsibility. People die needlessly.

While citizens bear the burden of personal responsibility to clean up their corner and put trash in the right place, authorities bear the responsibility to sustain order, build and fund systems that work.

We cannot prevent the rain from falling. Rain is a blessing. But we can prepare for floods. We can build drainage systems and keep rivers and wetlands free from illegal encroachment. We can appoint competent people to lead critical disaster preparedness departments.

A National Government With Criminal Priorities: Over the past three years, the National Government has had two clear priorities. The first is to extract money from Kenyans through taxation, state largesse, and corruption. The second is to gaslight Kenyans into believing everything is getting better.

Nothing illustrates this better than the findings of a fearless, truth-telling Auditor-General. In the 2023–2024 financial year alone, the National Government recorded staggering levels of waste, incompetence, and financial mismanagement:

A National Government study by my campaign uncovered: ● About KSH 700 billion in stalled projects across the country ● Over KSH 35 billion in wasteful, and totally avoidable interest charges ● About KSH 60 billion in illegal contract variations, and ● Over KSH 200 billion expenditure deemed to lack value for money by the Auditor General spent.

All of this, in just one year.

Last year, our country spent close to KSH 2 trillion on debt service, over 75% of our country’s revenue that year. This amount of debt service is the culmination of a culture of corruption, greed, and incompetence by those in government.

These funds, close to KSH 2 trillion in debt service, and all the wastage described above, represents money that could build drainage systems across Nairobi and other cities. Money that could modernize disaster preparedness. This is systemic failure.

On top of that, while Kenyans struggle with floods, taxes, unemployment, and failing services, billions more are being extracted from Kenyans through service charges structured around escrow arrangements whose transparency even the Auditor-General struggles to verify.

At the same time, Kenyans are told that everything is under control, that we are becoming “Singapore.” But Singapore was built on discipline, integrity, and ruthless intolerance for corruption.

The Failure of Nairobi County Government:

The tragedy unfolding in Nairobi today is also a direct indictment of the Nairobi County Government.

Nairobi County has received KSH 165 billion since 2014. Yet year after year the same failures persist, leading to the pulling out of dead bodies from floods caused by blocked drainage systems, illegal developments along waterways and collapsed waste management systems.

And perhaps most alarming of all is the shocking level of incompetence in key departments. Tell me, with all due respect to theology, why would Nairobi’s disaster risk management team include theologians instead of trained disaster management professionals?

Kenya has some of the finest engineers, planners, climate scientists, and disaster response experts in Africa. Yet these positions are filled through patronage rather than competence. Lives are lost because expertise is ignored.

We Must Change Course:

At the United Green Movement Party, and my presidential campaign, we believe that government must return to first principles:

We cannot bring back those who died this weekend. But we can ensure their deaths force us to confront the truth. It is time for honest and competent leadership that values human lives.

By David K. Maraga UGM Party Leader and Presidential Flagbearer