Filth city: The grand return of garbage menace in Nairobi County

A day after taking the oath of office in August last year, Governor Johnson Sakaja pledged not to waste any minute so as to instill order in the capital city.
To prove the naysayers wrong, immediately after his swearing-in, Sakaja took a tour of the city starting with Mukuru slums and selected estates that were choking in garbage after the campaign period.
"I have given firm directions on resolving the current garbage problem across Nairobi in the next few days," Sakaja made the remarks while at Mukuru slums.
While a lot has happened about eight months later, a spot check by The Naiorobian around the estates and city centre confirms that the fight against the garbage menace is far from being won.
In fact, the city is fast losing its lustre to stinking garbage strewn all over the city streets, walks ways, bridges, and markets. The heaps are an eye sore and also pose health risks.
And for the past week, some of the city streets are still holding uncollected sand construction debris left uncleared on site by contractors.
In Mukuru slums, for instance, heaps of uncollected garbage have been lying for several weeks mostly around Mang'eti church.
"It is a terrible situation because the sludge from the garbage is now spilling to the nearby houses," Eric Ambuche, the slums activist noted.

Piles of Uncollected garbage in Eastleigh near an estate. PHOTO: SAMSON WIRE

The situation is the same around the Maringo area where residents have turned a footbridge into a dumping site forcing pedestrians to avoid it due to the stench emanating from the pilling garbage. Along Juja road, some areas behind the police station and nearby homes attract scavengers like pigs and mongrels.
In an attempt to fix the garbage, the County boss promised to put up dumping sites inward levels where residents will dump before being ferried to the Dandora dumpsite but there is not much to write home yet.
However, Dandora Phase 1 Ward rep Allan Maina Gathuku whose ward covers all the way to Dandora dumpsite says there is no one to blame yet.
"We cannot blame Sakaja yet because the Governors who were there before did not have a place to take the garbage and the same problem has never been solved, the main Dandora dumpsite is now full," Maina explained.
"In fact, the garbage has spilled to the entrance of church called Rehoboth a Dandora 41 where I usually worship, every Sunday we hire a caterpillar to push away the garbage so that we can worship," he added,
Maina said the best option is to come up with a waste recycling machine even as the county is planning to recruit labourers.
"I am the chairman of the Labour Committee in the assembly and I know that for decades the County has never employed workers to collect garbage around even in my ward all of them have retired," he explained.
Pointing out, "There is an ongoing process to recruit about 3000 labourers who will help in garbage collection, if the machine comes on time also it will be of great help to city residents."