NAIROBI, Kenya, August 31 – Nairobi is racing against time to clear tonnes of garbage from its drainage system and waterways before the rains return, exposing the scale of the city’s waste management crisis and the threat it poses to flood-prone neighbourhoods. The county government says it is collecting about 3,000 tonnes of garbage every day, triple the roughly 1,000 tonnes previously collected, as it steps up efforts to clear blocked drains, river channels and illegal dumping sites. But the sheer volume of waste being removed points to a deeper problem: Nairobi is generating and dumping rubbish faster than the city’s waste management system can contain it. In some of the areas most vulnerable to flooding, garbage has accumulated in huge quantities along waterways and drainage corridors. Embakasi South alone has recorded more than 4,500 loads of waste removed since April, according to figures provided by County Executive Committee Member for Green Nairobi Maureen Njeri. At Kware Bridge, 1,538 loads have been cleared, while another 2,970 loads have been removed from English Press in Mukuru Kwa Reuben. The county has also been clearing waste collection points along the Ngong River, where rubbish poses the risk of being washed downstream and blocking already strained drainage infrastructure. The problem is not confined to the city’s eastern suburbs. Along the Nairobi River, 216...
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