There was an interesting but obscure occurrence in Mombasa last week.
The county government arrested those found littering in the town and arraigned them.
It is not the arrest or arraignment that stood out, but the fact that the court instead of fining them committed them to community service.
Those sentenced were quickly given dust coats and deployed to clean up the town.
Littering is a major problem in our cities and action must be taken against culprits.
It's common to see a motorist carelessly throw out containers of takeaway food or a pedestrian drop a banana peel on the pavement.
Rwanda prides itself as the cleanest city in Africa, but this took the conscious effort of the public coupled with tough laws and provision of the required facilities.
The government ensured there were adequate litter disposal points in the town even as it cracked down on law-breakers.
The Mombasa approach is commendable and should be adopted by other countries.
Counties must enforce littering by-laws but equally ensure the public has adequate facilities for garbage disposal.
Committal to community service should extend to other offences like driving a motorcycle on pavements. Fines seem not to be working.
There must be order and clean environments in our cities but the task calls for collaboration between the public and the authorities.
Quote of the Day: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
Thomas Edison
He filed a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie) on October 17, 1888
