- According to Sakaja, garbage collection had turned out to be a business as it lacked supervision and order.
- "What happened before was garbage collection became a very lucrative business where contractors would be contracted to collect garbage and get paid based on the amount of garbage taken to Dandora," he said.
Image: NCCG
As the population of Nairobi continues its upward trajectory, the surge in solid waste production is becoming increasingly evident.
Presently, the capital is home to around five million residents, each contributing to the generation of approximately 0.62 kilograms of garbage per day.
The escalating population underscores the pressing need for proactive measures and sustainable solutions to effectively manage and mitigate the rising challenges associated with solid waste in the urban landscape.
However, in an interview with the Star, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja revealed how his administration chose to deal with the garbage menace.
"Within these 16 months we have been in office, we took time to analyse the garbage menace in the city and we identified three key issues that were leading to the dirty streets and estates we used to see," he said.
Sakaja revealed that Nairobi had a human capacity shortfall, noting that the last time recruitment of environmental officers took place was in the 1980s.
"So you will find a whole subcounty having four to five officers who have aged, heading to retirement. An example is in Embakasi East where there were very old ladies as environment officers," he stated.
To address this, the governor highlighted that he had to bring the green army onboard.
Green Army is a group of youths contracted by the county to keep the city clean by sweeping, unclogging drainages and collecting garbage.
Last year, the county employed 2,500 Green Army members. Currently, every subcounty has over 100 Green Army workers.
"We started by employing 2,500 young people and soon we are going to get the last cohort of 1,000 people," he said.
There are also an extra team of 800 that focuses on the Central Business District and huge traffic areas.
Another issue was equipment. Nairobi lacked sufficient equipment to address the garbage menace
Sakaja revealed that after the August 2022 elections, he found equipment (Skippers, refuse compactors, skip loaders and skips) which were old.
From then, the governor highlighted that his administration has managed to purchase 27 tippers and 24 refuse compactors which are yet to arrive from Turkey.
A compactor is a machine designed to compress, reduce, and compact a variety of materials through hydraulic, mechanical, or pneumatic force.
"We have also bought 50 extra skips and 10 skip loaders and my administration will keep improving the capacity in the county," Sakaja added.
Another challenge in addressing waste management was supervision.
According to Sakaja, garbage collection had turned out to be a business as it lacked supervision and order.
"What happened before was garbage collection became a very lucrative business where contractors would be contracted to collect garbage and get paid based on the amount of garbage taken to Dandora," he said.
"There was a lot of gaming and because of that they (garbage collectors) would make sure the county capacity was low since they were paid to do that work. People were collecting garbage even from outside Nairobi, taking them to Dandora just to get paid."
As a result, Sakaja said he is in the process of changing how supervision and allocation in terms of garbage collection.
At the moment the county collects 3,200 tonnes of garbage daily the bulk of it is being done by City Hall's capacity.
Now that the rains have subsided, Sakaja said that the green army will be brought to complement and focus on beautification (planting trees and maintaining landscape).
Initially, garbage collection was in the hands of the Nairobi City Council, which collected 90 per cent of the waste generated in the city.
This was later scrapped, with several amendments to the city by-laws between the mid-80s and early 90s.
The then garbage collection industry came under the control of a handful of cartels, hence the menace
In addition, despite a few hiccups, Sakaja believes the county is not where his administration found it in terms of garbage.
He remains optimistic that Nairobi will be the cleanest city in East Africa.
"There has been great improvement in terms of the garbage menace since I got to office However it remains a challenge because of the cost of fuel and funds to pay people in the sector month;y," Sakaja said.
"But Nairobi is a service county and my administration will work towards making it a city of order and dignity, hope and opportunity for all as we sort out the garbage menace."