The Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) and the curse that is Solid Waste Management.


           Picture: Garbage heap along river road in Nairobi CBD.  

The demographics of Nairobi City County.

As per the Kenya Census report of 2019[1], Nairobi City County has a total population of 4,337,080 people (male=2,192,452, Female=2,204,376, intersex=245), total households- 1,506,888, with an average household size of 2.9 compared to the National Household size of 3.9. Nairobi City County has a total of 11 sub-counties covering an area of 703.9 Sq.km.

Solid Waste Management in Nairobi.

Reports indicate about 2,400 tonnes (72,000 tonnes per month) of solid waste is generated daily in Nairobi City County, but only about 1,500 tonnes (45,000 tonnes per month) is collected and deposited in Dandora[2], thus leaving a total of 900 tonnes un-attended to per day (27,000 tonnes per month). The average Nairobi household pays approx between Kshs. 150 – Kshs. 200 per month for the collection and disposal of solid waste. Assuming all the households in Nairobi paid for that service in a month, it would translate to Kshs. 226,033,200 – Kshs. 301,377,600. Annually, the Nairobi city county households would have to part ways with a total of Kshs. 2.71B – 3.62B. The question is; is this worthy business to invest in? My guess is as good as yours. Clearly this is a lucrative business that anyone would want to engage in and it has been the source of conflicts in Nairobi for a quite a long time with the ‘who is who’ wanting to have a share of these monies. It is in the public domain that the current Nairobi City county governor is in court as a result of tender on solid waste management, maybe it was a case who was to be awarded the contract and who was actually awarded. Being a matter currently in court, I won’t delve much into it.  Assuming that you have a profit margin of 30%, annually, this venture will be making a total of Kshs. 813,719,520 – 1,084,959,360 p.a.

The Nairobi Metropolitan Services Entry

With the entry of NMS into the management of Nairobi City county on March 18 when the deed of transfer of functions was signed between Governor Mike Sonko and the State and begun its operations, where four county functions of health, transport, planning and management, and public works and ancillary services were transferred to the national government, it is now 145 days NMS took over the management of these key services. Although the court has pronounced that this outfit is un-constitutional, we shall be eager to see what transpires in the coming days. Is it too early to judge the new sheriff in town? My answer is simple: Yes we need to, because public money is being used. When the director general was presenting his key achievements of his 100 days in office, what was easily noticeable were the beautiful and colorful cable walk ways for the pedestrians. Bwana Generali, we are grateful for the walk ways. But have you recently visited the lower side of the CBD, and the rest of county? There is still a lot to be done and one very important aspect that will need to be addressed is the issue of Solid waste. The management of solid waste in Nairobi county is now a function under NMS and it is quite clear that it is “same forest different monkeys and expecting different results”, well I could be judged as a pessimist but again we all harbor some level of pessimism at some point in time, although what differs from one person the other is the degree of variation from Optimism. The county is not short of laws to regulate solid waste management. There exists Nairobi City County Solid waste management Act-2015[3] that is quite explicit in these matters. National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) has a strategy “The National Solid Waste Management Strategy” that is also quite imperative.

As the new sheriff in town is busy ensuring that the aesthetic value of the CBD is maintained by parching up the walk ways with colored cabros, he needs to remember that the people of Nairobi County, in all the 11 sub-counties are in need of;

  • Affordable and accessible health services.
  • Reduced time in traffic.
  • Sustainable access to clean water.
  • A conducive and secure business environment.
  • Clean environment. 

Without the above Key outcomes being achieved, then it will be a disservice to the people of Nairobi City County who woke up at 4:00 am to vote in their governor. Until then, let us figure this curse that is “solid waste management”.  


Brian Kavuwa. 
bkavuwa blog.
briventures@gmail.com. 

Location: Kenya

Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 5, 2020 at 3:24 AM

    Nairobi requires a manager but not a politician,militarizing the city isn't a solution either;unfortunately,given another chance,the voters in Nairobi will pick another ruffian worse than governor Sonko to manage the city's affairs.If we can't comprehend this,we'll keep whining year in year out about poor service delivery,we will not cure what ails the city if we can't make the right diagnosis.....take the city back to the national government,let the city manager be picked in a competitive process.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. bkavuwaAugust 5, 2020 at 3:40 AM

      Thanks for your comment, I am in total agreement with your view.

      Delete
  2. UnknownAugust 5, 2020 at 3:29 AM

    Good stuff

    ReplyDelete

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