Machakos Faces Solid Waste Management Crisis Amid Budget Cuts and Mismanagement Allegations

By Martin Masai

Machakos County is grappling with a worsening solid waste management crisis following massive budget cuts and alleged mismanagement within the Department of Solid Waste Management.

Sources within the department have revealed that budgetary allocations for fuel and equipment have plummeted from Kes 45 million annually to just Kes 17 million.

The Finance department, under CECM Onesmas Kuyu, has been accused of unilaterally slashing the budget each year, significantly undermining operations in Machakos, Mavoko, and Kangundo-Tala municipalities.

Currently, Mavoko receives Kes 7 million annually, while both Machakos and Tala municipalities are allocated Kes 5 million each. Officials say these figures are grossly inadequate to fuel and maintain garbage collection vehicles, leading to grounded trucks and idle staff.

The department employs nearly 300 workers, many of whom now spend their days idle due to the lack of functioning equipment and frustration by seniors who have deliberately undermined garbage collection operations.

Mavoko municipality, which generates 170 tonnes of waste daily—almost twice that of Machakos (120 tonnes) and Tala (100 tonnes)—is the hardest hit. Much of Mavoko’s waste is industrial, making it difficult to handle without specialized equipment and resources.

The situation has further deteriorated since the current administration led by Governor Wavinya Ndeti removed municipal managers appointed by her predecessor and replaced them with loyalists. Staff claim the removal of key personnel was followed by resource withdrawal, crippling dump site management. “Today, you will not find a shovel or a backhoe loader on any dumpsite. Roads are impassable, especially during rains,” said one worker.

The absence of proper equipment and poor road access have resulted in county trucks resorting to roadside dumping. “It’s now impossible to tell whether it’s illegal dumpers or county staff disposing waste on roads,” added another source.

Officials also accuse the county treasury of frustrating the department. “They revise our budgets downwards yet expect cleaner municipalities. Should we use our delayed salaries to clean towns?” asked a machinery operator who declined to be named.

The Anchor has also established that waste bins have disappeared since the Wavinya administration took over, leading to increased street dumping. County insiders claim the funds previously allocated to solid waste management have been diverted to the “Ngarisha Mtaa” initiative—an unstructured street-cleaning program that allegedly spent Kes 25 million in wages last year to tame youth discontent.

Further allegations suggest that the county might be planning to privatize garbage collection and award lucrative tenders to politically connected firms at significantly higher costs—estimated at Kes 100 million annually.

Solid waste in Machakos County includes organic, inorganic, and hazardous waste. However, there is no structured waste sorting at collection or dumping points. Some municipalities like Mavoko also lack gazetted dumpsites altogether.

Experts argue that waste recycling offers a viable solution- but no one in the county is interested.

Organic waste could be turned into biogas or fertilizer, plastics into pellets for reuse, and glass into new products. But there is currently no glass recycling firm operating in Kenya.

The county’s legal obligations on environmental management are outlined under Article 42 and 69 of the Constitution of Kenya (2010), the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (1999), NEMA Guidelines (2006), and the Machakos County Environmental Management Act. However, implementation remains dismal, and the statutes exist as mere papers.

Without urgent intervention, officials warn that solid waste could soon overwhelm roads, streets, and even homes in the county.

Stay Anchored: http://www.theanchormedia.org


—