, NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 11 – Nairobi Members of County Assembly now want the management of public toilets in all wards to be fully run by youth groups as a way of creating employment.
The MCAs are also proposing a streamlined pay per use framework that will encourage efficiency and transparency.
Through a Notice of Motion moved by Huruma Ward MCA David Okello, the MCAs warned against any move to further privatize the management of toilets in the City.
“For the County public toilets to remain clean and run efficiently, a model that allows for creation of employment is best suited by allowing youth groups to run the facilities at a small fee per use as currently established; under the supervision of Environment department,” he stated.
Okello added that the City Centre alone needs at least 50 public toilets and improved security to meet the demand and increase on the current 17.
The proposal contradicts Governor Mike Sonko’s earlier stand that a private firm will be contracted to manage the facilities, with the county government only catering for the expenses.
Sonko however on Tuesday made a U-turn on his earlier directive to make public toilets free and instead advised operators to improve service delivery and cease internal wrangles.
He said he will only resort to scrapping the fees if they fail to heed to his warning, in a move seen as aimed at calming tensions after uproar from the operators.
Currently, the toilets are run through public-private partnerships that came into effect in 1999 when the defunct Nairobi City Council engaged business community to find a solution to the deplorable conditions of the facilities.
