Sakaja ordered to remove garbage dumped outside Kenya Power offices
The county also disconnected the sewer system of the Kenya Power premises as well as water supply
The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has ordered the Nairobi City County Government to remove garbage trucks and the waste dumped outside Stima Plaza in its feud with the Kenya Power and Lightening Company (KPLC).
The Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja-led administration has been told by the environment officers that the garbage trucks at Stima Plaza are not registered as they called on the County not to use waste as a score for the debt issues.
NEM stated that the actions by City Hall violate environmental laws, adding that the neighbourhood is affected by the stench.
“What we are doing now as NEMA is issuing an order to the Nairobi County Government. We are heading there right now to instruct them to do three things. One of them is to remove these vehicles from this area. The environmental aspect of waste management is the responsibility of NEMA. We are the ones in charge of setting national standards for waste management,” NEMA’s Environmental Education Director Ayub Macharia stated.
The order by the environmental authority comes after the city county government dumped garbage at the entrance of Stima Plaza in protest of a power cut at the County Executive headquarters over Ksh 3 billion in unpaid power bills.
The county also disconnected the sewer system of the Kenya Power premises as well as water supply.
The county officials who were under the instructions of Governor Sakaja also clamped personal vehicles and KPLC vehicles that were found parked at the Stima Plaza.
The county government has been accused of failing to honour the repayment structure agreed on in December last year.
KPLC noted that while Nairobi County was expected to pay Ksh 60 million for old debts and Ksh 50 million for current bills each month, it only paid Ksh 36 million in January 2025—far less than the Ksh 330 million required to cover three months’ worth of bills.
The utility company stated that after exhausting the diplomatic options it was then that they were forced to switch off electricity to several county facilities on February 14, a move that was met with swift retaliation.
County officials cut off water supply to KPLC’s offices and substations, even though the company had no outstanding water bills.
However, City Hall, though County Secretary Godfrey Akumali accused KPLC of violating Legal Notice No. 4894 of 2001, which requires all service providers to pay wayleave fees.
Akumali claimed that KPLC has ignored numerous requests for payment dating back to 2002, despite aggressively enforcing payments from its customers.
The county has also expressed concerns about KPLC leasing its utility poles to internet service providers including Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Telkom Kenya, and Safaricom.
County officials argue that KPLC has profited from these transactions while refusing to pay the required wayleave fees, citing a clear case of double standards.
KPLC workers have henceforth been forced to work from home until the matter is resolved as the work environment is not suitable for human occupation.
Yesterday, the Kenya Power Pension Fund, the legal owner of Stima Plaza, called on KPLC and Nairobi County to amicably sort out their issues and restore services at the complex as their tenants including Cooperative Bank, health point among others are deeply affected by the actions by Nairobi City County government.
“Kenya Power pension fund is the legal owner of Stima Plaza located along Kolobot Road where KPLC, Cooperative Bank, and Health Point Services among other tenants reside. Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company disconnected water and sewerage services at the complex without a clear explanation despite there being no outstanding arrears on rates, water, or sewerage. They blocked entrances to the complex and dumped garbage outside,” Kenya Power Pension Fund said in their statement.
“We condemn the acts by County Officials to disrupt business operations to our tenants as we assure that we are working with the relevant authorities to resolve the matter even as we call the parties involved to amicably solve the matter and restore normalcy at Stima Plaza,” it added.
