Why many Nairobi streets are impassable when it rains

Garbage along Kenyatta Avenue in Nairobi's Central Business District (CBD).The county government has promised to bring back Nairobi’s lost glory. {David Njaaga, Standard}

NAIROBI, KENYA: City residents on Sunday woke up to a heap of garbage in what is regarded as an upmarket section of the central business district.

It was not clear where the garbage that had been dumped along Kenyatta Avenue near Standard Chartered Bank on Sunday morning came from and why it had been left there.

“We do not know where this heap came from, but it appears it was dumped here at night by the people who are supposed to be cleaning the city,” said an attendant at a nearby shop.

Residents complained that the cleaners were using open manholes as dumpsites and that the trash washes into the streets when it rains.

Lazarus Maigwa said a county worker has been seen sweeping the dirt into gaping manholes and drainages along Kenyatta Avenue.

“She collects garbage, then dumps it in open drainage along the Kenyatta Avenue sidewalk. The litter blocks the drainage, causing flooding on the road that joins Moi Avenue. Some of the dirt floats on the dirty water,” he said.

“The central business district has remained dirty despite Governor Mike Sonko's promises to turn Nairobi into a Kigali," he added.

Clean like Kigali

During his campaign, the governor said he wanted to make a Kigali out of the city, but with the current mess the promise is far removed from reality.

Some streets and alleys behind Nation Centre have become impassable since the onset of the current rains, with the potholes filled with dirty water the rest of the pathway covered with mud.

Some of the corridors behind major streets and shops have been converted into urinals where people relieve themselves.

“There is a pungent smell of urine in the streets behind Bazaar Plaza. Behind the shops in the dark corridors, the situation is the same,” said Alice Njeri, a shop owner along Moi Avenue.

Car washes

The streets along Market and Mosque roads have also been turned into car washes at dusk when most people have left town. The car washers fetch their water near the mosque and from a drainage at the end of the street.

“Dusk business has moved uptown and the new administration is silent about it. These streets here are always damp and filthy,” said a hawker vending food near Mosque Road.