Conflict and crime in municipal solid waste management: evidence from Mombasa and Nairobi, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Among the barriers to proper solid waste management (SWM), and which have received little research attention is the role of conflict and crime in the sector. This paper explores conflict and crime in SWM in Kenya’s two major cities of Mombasa and Nairobi. Building on published and grey literature on crime and conflict in the sector, we present findings from a household survey and qualitative discussions with key stakeholders in SWM. The findings indicate that the pulling out of municipal authorities from the provision of SWM services, coupled with the ‘informalization’ of the Kenyan economy in the 1990s and the increase in both unemployment and poverty set the stage for the involvement of criminal elements in the sector. Crimes in the sector include corrupt practices such as well-connected individuals getting awarded service provision contracts that they do not honour, illegal activities on the dumpsites where gangs control access by transporters, and recovery of recyclables. In addition, there is violence from waste pickers towards outsiders thought to encroach on their territory. There is a need for county authorities to take over the control of waste management to address the huge public health implications it poses to the city.

KEYWORDS:

• Solid waste management
• crime
• conflict
• Kenya

This article is related to:

Research for city practice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council; and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) Humanitarian Innovation and Evidence Programme.

Notes on contributors

Kanyiva Muindi

Kanyiva Muindi is researcher and a FLAIR fellow at the African Population and Health Research Center working within the Urbanization and Wellbeing Program. She has vast experience working within urban informal settlements. Her current research is focusing on mitigating household air pollution in rural households in Machakos County, Kenya, through the introduction of bio-ethanol as a cleaner cooking fuel option. She holds a PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health from Umeå University, Sweden.

Blessing Mberu

Blessing Mberu is Head of Urbanization & Wellbeing Research Unit at African Population and Health Research Center and an Honorary Professor of Demography and Population Studies, University of Witwatersrand. He earned his PhD from Brown University, USA. His work covers migration, urbanization and urban health in Africa. He is in the Advisory Board of Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre and Executive Board of the International Society for Urban Health and led multidisciplinary and multi-year research teams across Africa.

Isabella Aboderin

Isabella Aboderin is chair in Africa Research and Partnerships and the director of the University of Bristol Perivoli Africa Research Centre (PARC). She is a professor of Gerontology whose research explores intergenerational linkages of, and long-term care for, older populations, their consideration in existing policy architectures and their relevance to Africa’s harnessing of its demographic transition. At APHRC, Isabella established and led the Aging and Development Research Unit. She holds a PhD from the University of Bristol.

Dickson Amugsi

Dickson Amugsi is an Associate Research Scientist attached to the Maternal and Child Wellbeing unit at APHRC. He is a public health scientist with expertise in public health nutrition and nutritional epidemiology. His research interests include but are not limited to maternal and child health, dietary diversity, maternal and child nutrition, nutritional epidemiology, obesity/non-communicable diseases, urban food systems, urban health and health systems. Dickson holds a PhD in international public health from the University of Bergen in Norway.