Nairobi redirects budget millions toward roads and waste cleanup

Nairobi City County has redrawn its spending priorities for the fiscal year ahead, moving funds away from administrative overhead toward three core services that residents rank as top frustrations: road repairs, waste management, and water supply reliability. The shift, outlined in the county's revised budget framework released this week, targets an estimated 15,000 temporary cleaning and maintenance jobs while attempting to address the deterioration of the city's streets and drainage systems that has worsened over the past three years.

The decision reflects mounting pressure on the mayor's office from residents and business owners over failed garbage collection in suburbs like Mathare, Kibera, and Nairobi West, where waste trucks stopped regular rounds for weeks at a time during 2025. County officials noted that complaints about uncollected rubbish and blocked drains jumped 40 percent in community feedback surveys conducted between January and May 2026. Road conditions have also become a flash point. The pothole index on major routes like Ngong Road, Mombasa Road, and Forest Road now exceeds levels recorded in 2023, according to traffic monitoring data reviewed by the county transport office.

Who gets the work, and what it means for daily life

The county says it will hire 6,000 temporary labourers for pothole filling and street sweeping over the next 18 months, with priority for residents of informal settlements and registered youth groups. Daily rates are set at 600 shillings, slightly above the county's 2023 minimum, and contracts run on three-month cycles. This affects household budgets directly: faster road repairs mean shorter commute times on congested routes, while consistent waste collection reduces disease vectors in areas where dengue and cholera have spiked when sanitation breaks down.

The waste management overhaul is more expansive. The county allocated 2.4 billion shillings in the revised budget to upgrade its fleet of refuse trucks-currently operating at 55 percent capacity-and to establish neighbourhood collection points in Eastleigh, Kasarani, and Embakasi. Officials say that bringing collection frequency back to twice-weekly service in middle-income zones and three-weekly in outer areas will require roughly 9,000 workers. A separate allocation of 800 million shillings covers spare parts and fuel, persistent bottlenecks that have crippled service consistency.

The numbers behind the shift

The county's total development budget sits at 18.6 billion shillings for the fiscal year. Of that, 3.2 billion shillings is now earmarked for roads and drainage maintenance, up from 2.1 billion in the previous budget. Waste and sanitation received 1.8 billion shillings, a 21 percent increase. Officials say the reallocation comes partly from cutting non-essential management positions-the county had flagged 340 vacant middle-management roles in an audit released in March-and partly from revised revenue projections based on property tax collection data from the first half of 2026.

Business groups have signalled cautious support. The Nairobi Business Association noted that reliable roads and waste services reduce operating costs for small traders and cut transport time for goods delivery. A June survey by the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis found that poor road conditions cost the average Nairobi household about 8,400 shillings per month in vehicle maintenance, lost productivity, and health costs linked to dust and poor sanitation.

Implementation begins in September 2026. The county says contracts for road and waste crews will be advertised by mid-August, with training commencing in early September. Officials will report progress quarterly to the county assembly. Success hinges on maintaining fuel supplies for the truck fleet and preventing the wage payment delays that plagued previous employment programmes in 2024.