Nairobi Governor Johnson Arthur Sakaja has shifted blame to the private sector over the perennial garbage menace at the capital.

Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV on Tuesday night, April 16, 2024, the Nairobi governor claimed that decisions by predecessor county governments to contract the private sector on garbage collection is the root cause of the garbage problem.

According to the governor, contractors were paid according to tonnage of waste collected per day. On several instances he claims, the contractors hiked garbage collection fees in their favour.

Sakaja noted that Nairobi produces about 3000 tonnes of garbage per day, however, th contractors allegedly claimed to collect 9000 tonnes, resulting in a deviation of 6000 all of which would be paid for by the county.

“The model for garbage collection was completely unsustainable. It was just business and so we would pay contractors just because of the weight of the garbage we deliver at our final disposal site in Dandora,” the governor said.

He added that some of the waste was dumped at illegal sites, creating yet another menace for the county to deal with.

“A lot of the bills were unattainable because if you calculated the weight they were charging, it would look as if you collect 9,000 tonnes of garbage every day yet we know that Nairobi collects about 3 tonnes every day," he said.

“We have community-based organizations (CBOs), who get paid in the informal settlement to collect garbage and they get paid and put it in the wrong place,” he added.

Sakaja assured residents of the capital that his administration has taken the necessary measures to address the issue. This includes employment of youthful personnel in environmental management and converting the waste to energy.

"We have awarded a waste-to-energy contract to China National and Engineering company that is going to convert waste at Dandora dumpsite into 45 MegaWatts of power. The waste becomes their raw material,” he said.

Aside from recruiting 3,500 youths to the 'Green Army' movement, Sakaja has promised the purchase of an additional 100 skip loaders, 50 skips, 24 tippers and 24 refuse compactors to help with garbage collection.

“Green Army is the first and biggest employment of our environmental officers who sweep our streets and collect garbage,” he noted.

“We have added 3,500 young people who have jobs today, collect garbage and sweep the streets every day. We cannot only rely on the private sector to clean the city, so we have now added youths for this job."

Governor Sakaja added that the county is in unison with residents of Nairobi and garbage collectors regarding the days and time of collection.