President William Ruto has appointed United Democratic Alliance politician Samuel Muchina Nyaga as a member of the Nairobi Rivers Commission, days after his crushing defeat in the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election.
The announcement was made in a Kenya Gazette notice dated July 22, 2026, and shared publicly by State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed.
Under the executive directive, Nyaga replaces Amos Chege Mugo, whose appointment to the commission was revoked with immediate effect.
"It is notified for the general information of the public that, pursuant to section 51 (1) of the Interpretation and General Provisions Act, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, appoint Samuel Muchina Nyaga to be a Member of the Nairobi Rivers Commission," the gazette notice states.
President Ruto appoints Samuel Muchina Nyaga, the UDA candidate in the just-concluded Ol Kalou by-election, as a member of the Nairobi Rivers Commission. pic.twitter.com/gVT3wpdbPL
— Hussein Mohamed, MBS. (@HusseinMohamedg) July 22, 2026
The appointment places Nyaga on an executive-established panel tasked with overseeing the cleanup and regeneration of the Nairobi Rivers Basin.
The Nairobi Rivers Commission is mandated to coordinate multi-agency efforts to curb severe industrial pollution, raw sewage discharge, and illegal encroachments while spearheading urban restoration along the capital's waterways.
Nyaga's soft landing comes immediately after he suffered a decisive loss in the Ol Kalou constituency race.
In the by-election, Nyaga garnered 5,450 votes, losing in a landslide to Sammy Douglas Waweru Kamau of the Democracy for Citizens Party, who won the seat with 35,440 votes.
The move to appoint Nyaga fits a familiar pattern in government administration where politically defeated allies are promptly cushioned with state appointments and public board seats following electoral losses.
Online, this took centre stage, with most netizens dismissing the appointment.
"How many members are added and removed from this Nairobi River commission month on month? When does this "Commission" ever give a status report/a before and after of the work they do? What are their KPIs, and what's the progress?" one probed on X.
"Just tokenism. This is the exact reason this govt is running around in circles doing nothing," another lamented.