Ibrahim Nyangoya Auma, Nairobi County Executive for Mobility and Works, addressing policymakers, scientists, and development partners at Safaripark Hotel, Nairobi on July 16, 2025.
As the Clean-Air Forum 2025 progressed in Nairobi, a powerful reminder set the tone for urgent discussion: “No government can manage what it cannot measure.”
These were the words of Ibrahim Nyangoya Auma, Nairobi County Executive for Mobility and Works, addressing policymakers, scientists, and development partners.
His remarks touched on a problem plaguing many African cities: air pollution.
The kind that quietly permeates the daily lives of millions — filled with smoke, dust, and invisible toxins — but remains vastly under-monitored and misunderstood.
Auma called for real-time, publicly accessible air quality data to inform decisions across urban planning, public health, and mobility systems.
Nairobi, he noted, is now investing in a decentralized air monitoring system, supported by policy through the Nairobi City County Air Quality Act, 2022. This legal framework places clean air at the center of urban governance.
“The cost of inaction,” Auma warned, “is measured in lives, livelihoods, and lost potential.”
From Policy to Patients: The View from the Frontlines
That cost is something Dr. Justus Simba, a pediatric respiratory specialist in Nairobi, sees every day in his clinic.
Children arriving with persistent coughs, families living near smoke-belching roads or waste-burning sites, and overcrowded classrooms with dusty air — all reflect a growing respiratory health crisis tied directly to environmental exposure.
“There are many issues affecting maternal and child health, including nutrition and infection,” Simba noted. “But air pollution and tobacco smoke are key concerns we must confront now.”
Simba’s insights were informed by the PUMUA Study, a collaborative research initiative by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, conducted in both Mukuru, an informal settlement, and Buruburu, a formal residential area in Nairobi.
The study examined exposure patterns among school-aged children and their caregivers, from the use of biomass fuels to traffic congestion and open burning of waste.
“Children in Mukuru — where firewood, charcoal, and waste burning are common — showed significantly higher rates of coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath compared to those in Buruburu,” said Simba.
When Schoolyards and Side Roads Become Health Hazards
Simba also highlighted findings from the ACACIA Study, which investigated how school environments — including proximity to roads, dust levels, and whether grounds were paved — shape respiratory outcomes.
“It might sound minor, but whether a schoolyard is paved or dusty matters. These are the spaces where children spend hours daily, and they directly affect their lung health.”
What is most alarming, Simba said, is emerging evidence of deep biological harm, with some air pollutants causing damage at the DNA level, especially in early childhood.
“This isn’t just about illness today. It’s about long-term effects that could echo throughout a lifetime, and even into future generations.”
From Data to Decisions: Bridging the Evidence Gap
Despite growing research, Simba lamented the fragmented nature of air quality data in Kenya.
“Much of the data is buried in hard-to-access reports or scattered across institutions. Even in today’s session, you could see how difficult it is to piece together a full picture.”
He urged stakeholders to go beyond technological fixes and confront the lived realities of those in poorly ventilated homes, informal schools, and underserved communities.
“Exposure is shaped by how homes are built, where schools are located, and how waste is managed. We must ask: What evidence are we collecting — and who is it serving?”
He recalled a moment from his fieldwork that shifted his team’s perspective — when a young researcher simply asked: “What exactly is inside these homes?”
The question, though basic, highlighted how understanding context is key to designing effective interventions.
Nairobi’s New Model: Integrated Urban Health and Air Quality
Meanwhile, Auma outlined Nairobi’s commitment to breaking silos and treating air quality as a cross-sectoral issue.
The city’s new framework links air quality data to decisions in transport, mobility, housing, waste management, and even digital governance.
This includes investments in non-motorized transport, traffic decongestion, and the electrification of public transit.
“Air quality is not a stand-alone issue,” Auma emphasized. “It’s deeply connected to land use, mobility, housing, and service delivery.”
He stressed that beyond technology, the real shift will come through partnerships with researchers, civil society, innovators, and communities.
“We must build local capacity, invest in homegrown solutions, and ensure that data is not just collected, but used to empower people.”
A Shared Crisis Demands Shared Solutions
The voices of Auma and Simba — one from policy, the other from public health — converge in a stark diagnosis: Air pollution is silently endangering millions across African cities.
Tackling it will require more than sensors and studies. It will require shared responsibility and a commitment to connect data with decisions, and decisions with dignity.
From dusty classrooms to digital dashboards, from hospitals to housing plans, the call is clear: The time to act is now.
“When the air harms a child’s lungs — or their genetic code — we are not just facing a health crisis. We’re risking the future of our cities,” Simba concluded.
As the Clean-Air Forum continues, Nairobi is emerging not just as a city confronting its pollution crisis, but as a test case for scalable, socially just air quality investment on the continent.
