Filthy City: NEMA Threatens City Hall Officials With Arrest Over Uncollected Garbage

The Nairobi County government has been given a 48-hour ultimatum to clear all uncollected garbage in the city.

The National Environment Management Authority of Kenya (NEMA) made the declaration on Wednesday evening as residents decry the filthy state of the city.

In a tweet, NEMA directed officials responsible to report on compliance of the directive within 7 days failure to which they will be arrested and prosecuted.

“Nema gives Nairobi County 48 hours to clear all the uncollected solid waste that has littered the city and report on compliance to the Authority within 7 days failure to which officers in charge will be prosecuted, ” said NEMA.

Nema gives Nairobi County 48 hours to clear all the uncollected solid waste that has littered the city and report on compliance to the Authority within 7 days failure to which officers in charge will be prosecuted @Environment_Ke @NationBreaking @StandardKenya @PeopleDailyKe

— NEMA Kenya (@NemaKenya) March 11, 2020

The directive comes slightly over a week after city garbage collectors downed their tools over unpaid dues.

Read: Filthy City: Nairobi Garbage Collectors Down Tools, Litter Streets [Photos]

Clad in their bright red overalls, the angry and hungry workers emptied bins onto the streets as they marched through parts of the Nairobi central business district (CBD).

The Tuesday last week protests were confirmed by Larry Wambua, the city’s Environmental Executive.

Mr Wambua shifted blame to the Finance department citing the confusion over the holder of the office.

He added that the workers have not been paid for at least three months.

“I am aware of the strike which is due to non-payment for almost three months. For us as a department, we do not make payments. This is the mandate of the Finance department which has had a tussle on who is the substantive CEC,” said Mr Wambua.

Read Also: Sonko begins cleaning Nairobi from heaps of Kidero garbage

However, Economic Planning Chief Officer Washington Makodingo disagreed with Mr Wambua further accusing his department of failing to forward the list of contractors to be paid in a timely manner.

“The Environment department should not blame us for their incompetence because they know they have slept on the job,” said Makodingo.

Embattled Nairobi County Governor Mike Sonko had early this year announced that City Hall had signed a one-year renewable contract with the National Youth Service (NYS) to help in garbage collection in Nairobi.

However, according to Environment Chief Officer Mohamed Abdi, the agreement is yet to take effect.

The county government is responsible for environmental issues as the ministry was not among county functions which were recently transferred to the national government.

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