Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Urban greening and displacement · Kenya · 2024–2025

Nairobi River regeneration and riparian demolitions

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
People
  • More than 127,000 people were displaced or listed for relocation.
    Projected permanent displacement in Nairobi alone, per civil society statement.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 2 not measured · 3 disputed See the gaps

After flooding in 2024, Kenya’s national government ordered homes along Nairobi’s riverbanks demolished on 48 hours’ notice. In 2025 the presidency launched a KSh 50 billion river regeneration programme that includes 50,000 housing units in reclaimed areas.

40,000Households affected by riparian demolition orders
Households reported affected; the promised payment was KSh 10,000 per household. Figures on who was paid differ by source and date.

Status As of March 2025: a KSh 50 billion regeneration programme was launched; the sources reviewed record no ruling, penalty or payment reconciliation.

What?
Riverbank structures along Nairobi’s rivers were ordered cleared after flooding in 2024, followed by a KSh 50 billion river regeneration programme with 50,000 housing units planned in reclaimed areas. Office of the President of Kenya
Where?
Nairobi, Kenya. Office of the President of Kenya
When?
Orders after the 2024 floods (May 2024); parliamentary questions October 2024; programme launched March 2025. The Standard
Who?
Gained
  • National government and presidency — Sponsor of a KSh 50 billion programme with 50,000 housing units planned in reclaimed areas Office of the President of Kenya
Lost
  • Households along the riverbanks — 40,000 households affected, given 48 hours’ notice; KSh 10,000 promised per household Eastleigh Voice
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The national government’s stated frame was flood response and river regeneration; the programme is presented as regeneration with housing. Office of the President of Kenya
How?
Demolition orders on 48 hours’ notice, a KSh 10,000 per household payment, and a later programme of housing and sewerage in reclaimed areas. The Standard
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

After the flooding of 2024, Kenya’s national government issued orders to clear structures along Nairobi’s riverbanks. Members of parliament later questioned the 48-hour notice period. About 40,000 households were reported affected, and the government promised KSh 10,000 per household.

In May 2024 the Interior Cabinet Secretary said that 25,000 of the 40,000 affected households had received the KSh 10,000, which Eastleigh Voice reported as 15,000 households yet to be paid. In October 2024 members of parliament told the Cabinet Secretary that 26,697 households had not been paid.

A statement by the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) with civil society organisations said that when the orders were issued there was no resettlement plan and no census of affected people, and that more than 127,000 people in Nairobi alone were projected to be permanently displaced.

In March 2025 the Kenyan presidency launched a KSh 50 billion Nairobi River regeneration programme. It envisages 50,000 affordable housing units and 60 km of sewerage in reclaimed areas, and states an aim of clearing informal settlements.

  1. 2024May: national government orders riparian demolitions on 48 hours’ notice after floods; Interior Cabinet Secretary says 25,000 of 40,000 households paid KSh 10,000; civil society statement on evictions
  2. 2024October: MPs question the Cabinet Secretary; say 26,697 households not paid
  3. 2025March: presidency launches KSh 50 billion Nairobi River regeneration programme with 50,000 housing units and 60 km of sewerage in reclaimed areas

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

How many affected households were paid KSh 10,000?
Government and regulators
Interior Cabinet Secretary

25,000 of 40,000 households had received the payment (May 2024).

Eastleigh Voice
Government and regulators
Members of parliament

26,697 households had not been paid (October 2024).

The Standard
Was the displacement planned for?
Communities and civil society
IHS and civil society organisations

No resettlement plan or census existed when the orders were issued; more than 127,000 people in Nairobi alone were projected to be permanently displaced.

IHS / civil society organisations
Government and regulators
Members of parliament

Questioned the 48-hour notice period.

The Standard

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

Recorded

  • 40,000 households were affected by the riparian orders; KSh 10,000 per household was promised.
    Eastleigh Voice
  • In May 2024 the Interior Cabinet Secretary said 25,000 households had been paid; in October 2024 MPs said 26,697 had not.
    The Standard
  • Civil society said no resettlement plan or census existed when the orders were issued.
    IHS / civil society organisations
  • No penalty on any party appears in the sources reviewed.

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: KES · Window: 2024–2025. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • kenya-national-government (2024-05): The Interior Cabinet Secretary said 25,000 of 40,000 affected households had received KSh 10,000. · Eastleigh Voice
  • kenya-presidency (2025-03): Launched a KSh 50 billion Nairobi River regeneration project with 50,000 housing units and 60 km of sewerage in reclaimed areas. · Office of the President of Kenya

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Households affected
40,000
Riparian demolition orders, 2024
Households not paid KSh 10,000
26,697
Members of parliament, October 2024; the Cabinet Secretary had said 25,000 were paid in May 2024
Measured change in river condition
None on record
The sources reviewed give no river-quality or flood measurements

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Displacement reportedNo independent ecological evaluation

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.

Accounts

  • Disputed How many affected households were paid KSh 10,000?
  • Disputed Was the displacement planned for?

Record

  • Disputed Households paid: the Interior Cabinet Secretary said 25,000 of 40,000 households were paid (May 2024), while members of parliament said 26,697 had not been paid (October 2024); the two figures are for different dates and are not reconciled in the sources.
  • None on record No resettlement plan or census existed when the orders were issued (civil society statement).
  • None on record No penalty on any party and no remedy beyond a parliamentary query are recorded.
  • Not measured No measurement of the river’s condition before or after the demolitions appears in the sources reviewed.

Did the harm stop?

Not established in the sources reviewed.

Who paid?

Households along the riverbanks, where the sources record 40,000 affected and, by the MPs’ account, 26,697 unpaid in October 2024.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

Government and regulators

Press and investigations

Communities and civil society

  1. Solidarity Statement on the Recent Evictions in Nairobi
    IHS / civil society organisations · 2024-05

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