Nairobi City: Where you risk stepping on human excrement, falling into a manhole

Francis Kilonzo (left), a tout points at a ditch along Gikomba Road. He said many matatus get stuck in the area. (Photo: Edward Kiplimo/Standard))

Stench from heaps of garbage, open manholes and raw sewage from damaged sewers have become grim features of Nairobi today.

If you are lucky to avoid the filth, chances are you will face the wrath of menacing street children who turn into dangerous muggers at nightfall.

One also witnesses pedestrians along Aga Khan Walk dodging human excrement, from which oozes a foul smell.

A drive around Muthurwa Market from 5pm is a nightmare, courtesy of these street children.

They will jump onto your car if you are driving an open pickup truck and get away with anything of value. But if you are lucky to be in a classy saloon car, then you better keep your window closed.

In fact, these days street children no longer threaten you with human waste as was the case before.

A drive through Haile Selassie Avenue on Thursday by The Standard team witnessed an incident where a street boy threw what looked like bedbugs into a Mercedes Benz after scratching himself, when the driver failed to give him ‘something.’

Darkness falls

Muthurwa market is usually their base during the day and when darkness falls, they invade the city centre. They huddle around Tuskys Supermarket along Mfangano Street and some hang around Dedan Kimathi’s statue along Kimathi Street, next to Hilton hotel.

Street boys near Gikomba Market in Nairobi. (Photo: Edward Kiplimo/Standard)

They are usually attracted by the big screens mounted in the area for adverts and which at times show sports and movies.

“There is also a guy who brings us food every evening. That is why we usually come,” said 15-year-old Evans Otieno, whose base is at Mfangano.

Otieno says once they have eaten, they leave; otherwise, they are beaten up by county askaris.

But Governor Evans Kidero says he is not to blame for the rot in the city, especially the return of street families.

He says it is the responsibility of the national government to settle the families.

“The issue of street families is not a Nairobi problem, the city does not breed street families. They come from all over the country,” Kidero said.

It is the same Haile Selassie avenue that leads to the biggest market in the city, Gikomba. Despite its big name and reputation, Gikomba could probably be one of the worst places.

Whichever route you use to access it, (from Eastleigh, Majengo or Haile Selassie), the end is the same. Heavy stench of untreated sewage running along open trenches is what ushers you in.

 Besides the trenches, there are numerous broken culverts, some  completely destroyed, further exposing the untreated sewage.

“These culverts are old and substandard.They do not even last for three months after repairs,” said Karumba Mwangi, who owns stalls at the market.

Mwangi says Gikomba has never changed for the nine years he has worked at the market. “When it rains, sewage fills our stalls. We have to waste so many hours cleaning up to save our properties.”

Unplanned expenses

He said Central Organisation of Trade Unions Secretary General Francis Atwoli (who has his main offices in the area), has been pushing for improvement of drainage in the area and the market for many years now, but to no avail.

The roads are at their worst despite the fact that they link the market to many other parts of the city. The usually open potholes are now covered with garbage. This confuses motorists who, apart from getting struck, contribute to heavy traffic in the area. “Motorists end up incurring unplanned expenses as their vehicles get damaged,” says Mwangi.

A matatu driver tries to squeeze his way around traffic on Tom Mboya Lane in Nairobi past a heap of garbage.(Photo: George Njunge/Standard)

“The county government does nothing. The best it has ever done was to pour murram on the roads. That has been the tradition,” says Francis Kilonzo, who works with 8B Sacco matatus.

But maybe the worst affected are business people. Catherine Muthoni says she is never surprised these days whenever she falls sick.

“When the sewage dries up, it simply becomes dust and we inhale it. I moved here almost two years ago because of the big business but the environment is worse that I ever though,” says Muthoni.

Ironically, when Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero visited the market on Wednesday, he found the area clean. County officials moved swiftly to clear the area ahead of the governor’s tour.

“Every five years, leaders come with empty promises. Some customers come and drive off without stepping out of their vehicles to buy because of the filth. Yet we depend on these businesses to survive. Why are we even paying the county government for services?” said Judas Kariuki.

Despite being a major market, Gikomba also does not have a designated dump site.

Along Kenyatta Avenue, next to Kimathi House, you find huge manholes that pose a risk to users.