A popular food chain manager in Nairobi was arrested on Thursday, April 3, during a crackdown led by Nairobi County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Environment, Geoffrey Mosiria.
In a statement through his official channels, Mosiria noted that this crackdown had been launched to ensure businesses complied with an order issued in January to all business owners to keep the areas outside their businesses clean.
In a video documenting the arrest seen by Kenyans.co.ke, a confrontation between Mosiria and the assistant manager over the waste piling up outside the premises escalated as the latter kept insisting he was not responsible for the cleaning.
Ultimately, the chief officer resorted to arresting the man as a warning to other managers on the busy CBD's Moi Avenue to keep their premises clean.
In an accompanying post, he noted that they had already been issued the notice in January, and the crackdown was to ensure the owners had adhered to it.
"In January this year, we issued a public notice to all businesses within the CBD, reminding them that the Nairobi City County Solid Waste Management Act, 2015, mandates solid waste management as a shared responsibility among all stakeholders," he stated.
"We directed all businesses to maintain cleanliness within a 10-meter radius of their premises, with immediate effect. While some businesses have complied, others have failed to meet these requirements."
Mosiria further noted that the arrest of the assistant manager on Moi Avenue is part of what was outlined in the notice and those found non-compliant would be arrested and arraigned.
According to the Nairobi City County Solid Waste Management Act, 2015, business owners are expected to clean the area outside their businesses, excluding the main streets and roads.
"It shall be the duty of every occupier or owner or agent of a house, or other premise to clean or cause to be cleaned the 10 metres radius around his or her house or other premises or any area otherwise in his or her control but which shall not include a main road or street," the Act reads.
The Chief Officer has been enforcing the regulations in a bid to achieve Governor Johnson Sakaja's vision of maintaining a clean Nairobi city for all.
Sakaja has also laid down several directives, including one to hawkers, moving them away from the busy streets of the Nairobi CBD and another one to business owners to paint the outside of their buildings with a fresh coat.
