Nairobi City County has gone to court to challenge sections of a national waste law. City Hall says the law allows the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to take over garbage functions that belong to counties.

The petition targets the Sustainable Waste Management Act, 2022, which governs how waste is sorted, collected, transported and disposed of across the country. It was reported by the Daily Nation and The Standard over the weekend.

Four sections in the dock

The county, led by Governor Johnson Sakaja, is challenging Sections 8(1)(c), 26(1), 27(1) and 30 of the Act, the Nation reported. It argues that these provisions let NEMA encroach on its mandate over garbage collection, waste transport, the management of disposal sites and solid waste disposal.

The Standard reported that the county is also contesting what it calls encroachment on its role in cleaning, licensing and enforcement of environmental conservation.

The respondents are the Attorney General, NEMA, the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, and Parliament. The Standard listed the National Assembly and the Senate separately.

Fears of double regulation

At the heart of the case is a claim of confusion over who does what. The county says the disputed sections blur the line between national regulation and county services. That, it says, leaves waste operators in Nairobi open to overlapping or contradictory rules.

"Unless the matter is considered expeditiously, there is a continuing risk of the petitioner and other actors within Nairobi City County being subjected to overlapping, duplicative or potentially conflicting regulation," the county stated, according to the Nation.

The county's position is that NEMA should stick to setting standards and enforcing environmental law, while counties run the actual waste services. It is asking the court to define how far the national government's regulatory powers extend.

Under the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution, refuse removal, refuse dumps and solid waste disposal are county functions. The 2022 Act itself says county governments are responsible for carrying out the devolved waste management function. It also gives NEMA wide oversight and licensing roles. City Hall says those roles cross the line.

No hearing date had been reported by Sunday, and NEMA had not publicly responded to the petition.

A long-running feud

The case is the latest clash between City Hall and the environment regulator over the capital's rubbish.

In February 2025, NEMA ordered the county to clear waste dumped outside Kenya Power's Stima Plaza offices during a row over unpaid electricity bills. The regulator said the dumping broke environmental laws.

The courts have also repeatedly found fault with how Nairobi manages its waste. Earlier this year, the Environment and Land Court ordered compensation for waste pickers at the Dandora dumpsite over pollution.

Waste collection remains one of the most visible tests of service delivery in Nairobi. Uncollected heaps of garbage are common in estates and markets, and Dandora, the city's main dumpsite, is long past capacity.

The outcome could have implications beyond Nairobi. A ruling on how far NEMA's powers reach into county waste services would apply to all 47 counties operating under the 2022 law.

Photos: Nairobi City Hall, Jorge Láscar/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0); garbage collection at Marikiti, Benard Orwongo/The Standard; Dandora dumpsite, Falkue/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).