Dandora dumpsite a cash cow, say MPs
Two Members of the National Assembly have threatened to shoot down the budget vote for the Nairobi county’s waste management services.
They have accused the county leadership of focusing more on what they pocket than executing their official mandate.
Embakasi North MP Mwangi Gakuya and his Gatundu South counterpart Moses Kuria, both who serve on the budget committee, accused the city leadership of failing to address the challenges emanating from Dandora dumpsite.
Kuria said the dumpsite had become an exclusive business for county chiefs.
“The dumpsite has become certain people’s shop. Everyone who comes into the leadership of the county engages in the business opportunity the dumpsite offers. When Evans Kidero was the governor, he minted millions of shillings from the dumpsite. It is the same with Governor Mike Sonko,” said Kuria during a fundraiser for Soul Harvesters International Church in Dandora on Sunday.
He said time has come to bring to an end that business. “It’s now time we closed this shop so that we can release some space occupied by the dumpsite to be used for other installations that can provide job opportunities for the youth,” he added.
He said he and Gakuya will propose a budget cut or withdrawal for waste management in the city. Gakuya said it only requires political goodwill from the county leadership to resolve the challenges brought about by the dumpsite.
“Maintenance and management of the dumpsite just requires an approval of the county to start modern waste management activities such as recycling, but there are people in that county who are sleeping on their job,” he said.
In response, Deputy President William Ruto who presided over the fundraiser said it had taken unnecessarily long for the County Government—the custodian of the landfill—to take the necessary steps as agreed in the past, to address the challenges of the dumpsite. “We had agreed with your Governor, Sonko that it was necessary for us to look into modern ways of addressing this dumpsite, bit that has not happened,” he said.
However, the DP hinted that if that’s not possible owing to the current challenges the county is facing, there would be need for the National government to step in.
