Accessing public toilets in the Central Business District will be free as Nairobi Metropolitan Service takes over the facilities.
This comes as NMS next week will issue new operation guidelines for public toilets going forward for city dwellers to continue getting adequate services.
In the meantime, National Youth Service has been deployed to man all toilets within CBD.
Major General Mohammed Badi’s team took over the facilities from the hands of private entities which have been running them.
A public notice plastered on the toilets read, “Kindly note that all public toilets have been closed due to security reasons. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused. Ordered by NMS.”,
“Yes, NMS has taken over all the public toilets in the CBD and we closed them yesterday for renovation. Public toilets are meant to be free. The National Youth Service will be deployed at the public toilets,” said NMS.
In the CBD, there are more than 15 public toilets and over the past years have been under the management of private entities after being sub-contracted by City Hall.
A person is charged between Sh5 to Sh10 to utilise the toilets, depending on the service sought. It is roughly estimated that one toilet can collect up to Sh15,000 a day after operational costs is deducted.
However, battles have also been associated with the multi-million toilet industry. From youth groups, private investors and politicians all want a piece of cake on manning these facilities
Since 2018, there has been a back and forth in the city over the running of the toilets since former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko threatened to take and hand them over to City Hall if the private entities failed to end their constant infighting
In October last year, police officers were forced to use tear gas to quell chaos that rocked CBD after rival groups clashed over the management of public toilets.
At some point the police were forced to lob teargas canisters to disperse the irate crowds spoiling for a fight.
Calm was later restored after the arrival of Central Police OCS who engaged the warring faction.
