On Tuesday, January 14, Brigadier (Rtd) Joseph Muracia, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nairobi Rivers Commission, was dismissed from his role following a critical board meeting.
The meeting, led by former Starehe MP Margaret Wanjiru, resulted in a unanimous decision to terminate his contract after serious misconduct allegations were brought against him.
Muracia had been appointed CEO by President William Ruto, who created the Commission in 2022 to oversee the restoration of the Nairobi River.
His primary duty was to ensure the river’s cleanup and rehabilitation. However, the board accused him of exploiting loopholes in the organization for personal gain and mishandling resources.
An audit conducted for the financial year 2023/2024 uncovered severe financial mismanagement, with over Ksh150 million reported missing under his leadership.
The audit further revealed that goods valued at Ksh20,234,474 were delivered without following proper procurement procedures.
Some of the supplied items were allegedly overpriced by margins ranging from 150% to 260%.
Additionally, documentation for the procured goods was missing, raising concerns about transparency and accountability in the procurement process.
The Nairobi Rivers Commission was formally established through Gazette Notice Number 14891 with the mandate to clean and restore Nairobi’s rivers and streams.
Despite this mission, Muracia was found to have made several questionable management decisions.
He claimed to have employed 20,000 Climate Worx workers under the Commission’s projects, but investigations revealed that many of these workers were ghost employees.
Further scrutiny exposed that the Ksh200 million allocated for the Climate Worx Initiative had been significantly mismanaged, with a substantial portion of the funds unaccounted for.
The board also accused Muracia of nepotism, alleging that he hired family members and prioritized their salaries over other staff.
Additionally, reports emerged accusing him of insubordination and mistreating fellow commissioners, often using harsh language and intimidating junior staff.
However, Kenyans.co.ke was unable to independently verify these claims.
In response to the findings, the government has committed to launching further investigations to recover the lost funds and prevent similar mismanagement in the future.
President Ruto had previously pledged to clean up and restore the Nairobi River. To accelerate this process, he launched the Climate WorX Mtaani program in September 2024.
The initiative aimed to employ 10,000 young people to assist in river restoration efforts.
Climate WorX Mtaani was designed to transform urban areas by eliminating illegal dumping and waste discharge while promoting cleaner, sustainable neighborhoods.
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