Governor Sonko government reorganises city toilets management

NAIROBI, KENYA: Public toilet owners in Nairobi were on Monday ordered to revert the facilities back to the county government in line with Governor Mike Sonko’s move to make them free of charge.

This comes barely a day after the Governor assured City residents that he was firm on his decision to scrap fees for the usage of the amenities.

Through a notice, City hall asked all public toilet handlers to surrender the facilities to the County, before a viable contractor was identified to take over operations.

“Please note that as per our records, you do not have a Public Toilet management Agreement…notice is given to you to vacate the public toilet by July 8,2018 to allow the County Government to manage the facility,” read the notice in part.

It was signed by Chief Officer Environment, David Makori and addressed to one of the handlers identified as Kiruri Hygienic Service Providers.

“To this effect henceforth, public toilets will be managed by the Nairobi County Government,” it added.

County Environment executive, Larry Wambua confirmed that the order was effective immediately saying the move was meant to better manage the facilities.

“Most of these handlers do not have valid contracts to enable them manage the facilities and they have been asked to hand them over so that the county can decide on how they will be managed in the future,” stated Wambua.

There are currently 62 public toilets in Nairobi which are managed through the public private partnership but that is set to change soon.

The facilities rake in approximately Sh1.2 million each month translating to sh14.8 million a year and the move to scarp the fees will deny City Hall the much needed revenue.