Badi, make everyone keen on garbage they generate

Nairobi Metropolitan Services has formed a team that will enforce the regulations meant for managing waste in the capital city.

In statement, the NMS said that “every household, business and individual should be responsible for the waste they generate.”

Indeed, according to the Nairobi City County Solid Waste Management Act 2015, illegal dumping attracts a fine not exceeding Sh200,000, a jail term not exceeding two years or both.

Taking the tone of punishment and talking tough, the NMS headed by Major General Mohammed Badi, who has so far been praised for beautifying a section of CBD, the outfit warned “saboteurs and detractors” littering the city while some residents were keen on a clean environment.

It is true that sabotage could be at play in a city where cartels have been accused of running the show, we think that the NMS should go beyond punishment and increase the number of people “cognizant of their role in a clean environment”.

Increasing the number of people responsible for the waste they generate would be a game-changer.

This, among other efforts, requires investing in campaigns and educating residents on the benefits of right handling of garbage and the dangers of littering at will, leading to mounds of garbage everywhere from people’s doorsteps, shop frontages, to the Central Business District.

This, we think, goes beyond sabotage, it smacks of little education that will continually help people to do the right thing.

Having said that, Kenya’s punishment machine has also been grinding slowly to the extent that the laws are increasingly not making sense to would-be or repeat offenders and the detractors working to roll back the gains delivered by a few diligent workers and responsible leaders.

While forming a team is a step in the right direction, what will deliver key results is a different approach because task forces, commissions and similar groupings drawn from the usual institutions and individuals have failed to deliver.