County governments have been told to improve waste collection, sort rubbish at source and plan housing projects together with drainage, sanitation and green spaces. The call came as Kisii hosted Kenya's World Cities Day celebrations.

The message was in a speech by Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome, read on her behalf by Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba. The event was held at the Kisii Agricultural Training Centre, on the outskirts of Kisii town, under the theme "Regenerating the City: Adequate Housing for All".

Waste must be measured by results

The speech praised Kisii County for turning the former Nyambera dumpsite into Etaya Governor's Park, saying it showed how degraded land could become useful public space. It also highlighted the Material Recovery Facility at the training centre as a step towards a circular economy in which waste is reused wherever it is safe and makes economic sense.

The facility is reported to handle up to 50 tonnes of waste a day, but Ogamba said the figure still needs to be confirmed with verified data.

"The success of waste management must not be measured by installed capacity alone, but by the quantity of waste responsibly managed and the improvements in residents' experiences in their neighbourhoods," he said.

He called for:

  • Reliable collection and sorting of waste at source.
  • Recycling, and composting of suitable organic waste.
  • Safe disposal of whatever cannot be recovered.
  • Households, schools, offices, markets and businesses to follow the Sustainable Waste Management Act, 2022.

Housing is more than a roof

Ogamba said adequate housing also means clean water, sanitation, proper drainage, transport, public spaces and economic opportunities. He warned that poorly planned growth could worsen housing shortages, pollution and flooding.

He named affordable housing projects in Ogembo, Suneka, Nyachenge, Nyanchwa and Nyaribari Masaba as chances to widen access to housing and create jobs. However, he said they must come with drainage, waste collection, transport links and green spaces, and that counties should plan housing, markets and infrastructure as one urban system rather than as separate projects.

The speech pointed to the Kenya Urban Support Programme Phase 2, the Kenya Informal Settlement Improvement Project and the Building Climate Resilience for the Urban Poor initiative as programmes counties could learn from. It noted that flooding, poor drainage and environmental damage hit residents of informal settlements hardest.

Kisii's model to go global

Kisii Deputy Governor Elijah Obebo, who read Governor Simba Arati's speech, said hosting the event showed the county was "doing something in the right direction on matters of urban development". The Mt Kenya Times reports that the county has completed its first 10-year County Spatial Plan.

UN-Habitat Kenya's Head of Country Programme, Beryl Khanyile, said Kisii's approach would be shared at the global World Cities Day observance in China. "Waste is not a problem to be managed," she said, arguing that waste should be treated as a resource.

"Regenerating our cities is a shared responsibility, and the time to act is now," Ogamba said, urging municipalities to set measurable targets and timelines and to track their progress regularly.

Photos: Capital FM; Anyona933 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.