NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 4 – Nairobi’s worsening waste problem has become an unlikely source of employment, with the county government saying it has hired about 4,500 workers under the Green Army programme to clean streets, drainage channels and public spaces.
Governor Johnson Sakaja says the recruits have been employed on permanent and pensionable terms, making the programme one of the county’s largest recruitment drives for workers involved in environmental services in recent decades.
But while the hiring has added thousands of jobs, it has also put the spotlight on the scale of Nairobi’s waste-management challenge and whether the county can sustain the clean-up beyond periodic campaigns.
Speaking on his digital baraza podcast, Nairobi, Let’s Talk, Sakaja said the programme was intended to address both unemployment and the city’s deteriorating environment.
“Right now, since the 1980s, this is the first time we have employed such a huge number of workers 4,500 people for permanent and pensionable positions to be part of the people cleaning the city,” he said.
He said the jobs would have an impact beyond the individual workers because of the households that depend on their incomes.
“As they clean drains, clean our city and estates, we have also given 4,500 households an opportunity to make a living. This is just the beginning,” he said.
The Green Army is being deployed across different parts of Nairobi, with workers involved in clearing drainage channels, removing accumulated waste, cleaning estates and public spaces and dealing with illegal dumping sites.
The initiative comes as the county grapples with a waste stream that has grown considerably with the city’s population.
According to the county government, Nairobi currently collects about 3,000 tonnes of waste a day, compared with approximately 1,000 tonnes previously.
That volume presents a major logistical challenge for a county expected to serve a population of millions, particularly where collection, transportation, disposal and enforcement against illegal dumping remain persistent problems.
Sakaja said the scale of waste generated in the capital required a system capable of collecting and handling rubbish on a daily basis.
The county has also linked the clean-up campaign to preparations for heavy rains, with drainage clearance being stepped up in several parts of the city.
Since April, the county says more than 40 major waste collection points and illegal dumping sites have been cleared.
In Embakasi South, for instance, more than 4,500 loads of waste have reportedly been removed. The county says 1,538 loads were cleared from Kware Bridge, while another 2,970 loads were removed from English Press in Mukuru Kwa Reuben.
Other reported clean-up sites include Motherland in Eastleigh South, where 216 loads were removed, and Kinyago Slums in California Ward, where 20 loads were cleared.
The county has also reported clean-up operations at Gumba Bridge in Babadogo, Kingston in Utalii, Area 3 Sokoni in Mathare North and Korogocho Market.
Drainage clearance and desilting operations have similarly been carried out in areas including Dandora, Ruai, Langata, Mathare, Kibra and Dagoretti North.
County executive for Green Nairobi Maureen Njeri said the drainage work was aimed at reducing the risk of flooding during heavy rainfall.
“As we prepare Nairobi for the El Nino rains, the Green Army is on the ground every day clearing drains, removing waste and keeping our roads and neighbourhoods clean,” she said.
“This is about prevention ensuring water has a clear path to flow and reducing the risk of flooding.”
Jobs versus a permanent waste solution
The recruitment of 4,500 workers represents a significant expansion of the county’s workforce dedicated to environmental management.
But the number of workers alone may not resolve Nairobi’s waste problem.
The city’s garbage challenge is tied to several stages of the waste-management chain, including household collection, transportation, sorting, recycling, disposal and enforcement against illegal dumping.
The continued appearance of large waste piles and illegal dumping points has previously demonstrated the difficulty of maintaining clean-up gains once organised operations move elsewhere.
The county has said it wants to move towards a system where more waste is sorted and recovered instead of being transported directly to disposal sites.
Sakaja said Nairobi was also looking at ways of turning waste into an economic resource.
“We have plans for how we will repurpose the garbage,” he said.
The county has announced plans for material recovery and waste transfer facilities as part of its broader waste-management strategy.
Such infrastructure would be important if the administration is to move from simply removing waste from streets and drainage channels to reducing the amount that ends up in dumpsites.
For now, however, much of the Green Army’s work remains focused on the immediate problem: removing waste that has already accumulated.
Pressure to keep Nairobi clean
The programme also comes as the county prepares for the possibility of heavy rains, when blocked drains and waterways can quickly translate into flooding.
The county administration has therefore combined waste removal with drainage clearance, desilting and vegetation control.
But officials have also acknowledged that county operations alone cannot keep Nairobi clean.
Njeri has called on residents, businesses and communities to stop dumping waste in drains, roadsides and waterways.
“We cannot achieve a clean and flood-resilient Nairobi through the efforts of the County Government alone,” she said.
That remains one of the central challenges facing the Green Army.
The county can increase the number of workers clearing waste, but sustaining cleaner neighbourhoods will also depend on reliable waste collection, adequate disposal infrastructure, enforcement of waste regulations and changes in public behaviour.
For the 4,500 recruits, the programme has created jobs. For Nairobi, its longer-term test will be whether those jobs form part of a functioning waste-management system — rather than simply providing more hands to repeatedly clean up the same problem.
