Kenya – Replacing the bucket latrine

WAJIR EAST, 5 November 2009 (IRIN) – The sound of the evening bell at a local boarding high-school in Wajir, in the northeast of Kenya, did not always signal the end of the day’s classes. Instead it marked the end of the evening bathroom break as “bucket toilets” were emptied for the day.

Such stories are commonly told with a mixture of humour and concern in the semi-arid region of Wajir, where most residents have little access to improved sanitation – with serious health implications.

Outside the town, people use water from open dams, which they share with animals. “During the rainy season, run-off water washes animal waste into the dam, contaminating it,” he said.

Wajir residents rely on shallow wells, due to increasing water salinity at depth, which are exposed to contamination during flash floods and from seepage.

The larger Wajir, which borders Somalia, Ethiopia, as well as the Kenyan towns of Mandera, Moyale, Isiolo and Garissa, lies in an area with large aquifers supplied by perennial rivers and dry seasonal river basins – also sources of contamination.

Like most of northern Kenya, Wajir has experienced a prolonged drought and livestock deaths. Animal carcasses litter watering points, posing a further health risk.

Contamination

Wajir South Development Association (WASDA) programme manager, Haretha Bulle, told IRIN of the challenges.

“There are [largely] no flush toilets and no pit latrines,” Bulle told IRIN. A few flush toilets can be found in some hotels and in newer settlements but are rare in households.

According to a UN World Health Organization report, latrine coverage in rural Wajir is about 5 percent and just a little higher in the town.

Because of the high water table, pit latrines are not viable, and residents mainly rely on unhygienic bucket toilets – improvised from plastic jerry cans.

“Waste is collected from the bucket latrines by a tractor, which serves the whole town,” Bulle noted. The town has a population of about 220,000.

“Households are not able to dispose of waste [and] are forced to dispose it anywhere,” she said. “When it rains, the whole town smells. The water gets contaminated more easily and changes colour.”

Refuse pit and open pit dumping is prevalent.

El Nio threat

According to Wajir town resident, Khadijah Ibrahim, ongoing El Nio-related rains will only exacerbate the situation. Her family of eight shares one bucket toilet with three other households – about 24 people in total.

“Sometimes the municipal council comes to empty the bucket after a week or 15 days. By the time the waste collectors come, the bucket toilet is already overflowing,” Ibrahim said.

Her children, the youngest of whom is three, have been trained to wear shoes before going to the toilet to protect themselves, “but they only use soap to wash their hands before they eat”, Ibrahim said.

Eco-toilets

The Arid Lands Development Focus (ALDEF) NGO is piloting eco-toilets, which use heat trapped by solar panels to burn human waste, reducing it to ash.

The toilets do not use water, instead relying on a dehydration/evaporation system. Diyad Hujale, ALDEF programme manager, told IRIN the target was mainly the town centre, which requires about 5,000 toilets.

Hujale recommended that Wajir town’s by-laws should make it compulsory for any upcoming construction to have an eco-toilet facility. The challenge, he said, is “how to get rid of the bucket toilet”.

However, the cost of setting up an eco-san unit, about KSh60,000 (US$800), is prohibitive for private households.

Health education

Past recommendations to improve drainage and sanitation in Wajir have not yielded much, according to Bulle of WASDA. “It is one disaster after the other. When the rains come, we think of the drainage but forget about it when the drought comes.”

At present, village elders in Wajir are being taught how to chlorinate the community wells, according to health officer Njoroge. Health education on the importance of protecting the wells is also being provided.

He said the construction of more toilets is being encouraged in new settlements, where communities are provided with water treatment chemicals.

“Health education is ongoing. Of importance is that there is continued disease surveillance in the district,” he said. The solution lay in “providing clean water to the community and safe disposal of human waste via a sewerage system”.

Source – IRIN News

Kenya: cholera outbreaks in the north, Coast and Nairobi slums

In early October 2009, at least 29 people died of cholera and hundreds more were being treated for cholera-related symptoms such as acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) in the larger Turkana District in the northwest and in the eastern regions of Garbatulla and Laisamis, say health officials. The regions are not only facing an acute water shortage, due to a prolonged drought, but also have poor latrine coverage.

Cholera has also surfaced in several parts of the Coast in the aftermath of flooding. Coast Provincial Medical Officer Dr Anisa Omar confirmed on 3 November 2009, that 12 people have been admitted at Lamu district hospital after contracting cholera. There were also outbreaks of water-borne diseases in Magarini and Tana Delta district.

Cholera has also killed 11 people in Nairobi. The first case was reported in the sprawling Mukuru kwa Njenga slum. Some 949 people — most of them pregnant women and children under five years — had been treated for cholera and other water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, vomiting and dysentery.

See below two NTVKenya video reports on cholera in Mukuru, which also show the poor sanitary conditions in the slum.

Source: IRIN, 09 Oct 2009 ; Mathias Ringa, Daily Nation / allAfrica.com, 03 Nov 2009 ; Mike Mwaniki, Daily Nation, allAfrica.com, 29 October 2009

Kenya: Slum Dwellers to Get Sh1.7 Billion Sanitation Upgrade

30 September 2009 - Nairobi — Thousands of poor urban households will gain access to water and sanitation services in a Sh1.7 billion deal targeting the slums. “This initiative specifically targets the slums,” Mr David Stower, the Water PS, told journalists in Nairobi on Tuesday after signing the agreement on behalf of the government. The targeted water and sanitation projects will be run as part of a special initiative dubbed the Urban Programme Concept (UPC) and funded through a multilateral agreement between Kenya, the German government and the European Union (EU).

“Households in these urban slums have serious challenges in accessing water year round,” the PS said. Funds from the Sh1.7 billion grant will be managed and disbursed by the Water Services Trust Fund (WSTF) even though the actual implementation of the project will be carried out by Water Service Providers(WSPs) operating in the target areas. Some 800,000 people are expected to benefit from the initiative to be implemented over the next four years, starting with locations that fall under the Lake Victoria North Water Services Board (LVNWSB).

Estimates by the Water ministry show that only about 60 per cent of Kenya’s urban population has access to water while only 55 per cent have access to basic sanitation facilities. “We expect this initiative to improve the lives of households,” Mr Eric van der Linden, the Head of the European Commission delegation in Kenya said. The WSTF made the first call for proposals under the UPC initiative earlier this year. According to initial estimates, the first phase was projected to encompass 15 projects to reach 100,000 inhabitants of low income urban areas with quality water at a cost of Sh100 million. Each of the five WSPs that fall within the territory of the LVNWSB including Western, Eldowas, Nzowasco, Amatsi and Kapsabet were invited to submit three proposals each.

A total of 12 proposals were received, with 9 approved upon evaluation.  According to the scope of work outlined in the approved proposals, some 42 new water kiosks will be built, 20 existing ones renovated and 97 new yard taps constructed. In addition, the existing water supply pipeline within the region will be extended by 25,585 meters and an elevated tank with a storage capacity of 648 cubic meters installed. On completion, the nine new projects approved in this initial phase within the LVNWSB zone are now projected to cost Sh74 million and to about 150,000 people. Another call for proposals is expected to be announced next week with the WSFT looking to finance about 25 projects at an estimated cost of Sh200million and to benefit 300,000 people in the low income bracket.

The signing of the funding agreements for this call is planned for January 2010 upon the evaluation and approval of the proposal. WSTF chief executive officer Mrs Jacqueline Musyoki said the fund targets supplying water to 1.4 million people and sanitation facilities to 400,000 people by 2011. “Currently the urban poor pay more for water that is of poor quality and the women and girls take longer to fetch water,” she said. Mr Stower said projects under the UPC would be rolled out in urban areas such Nairobi, Mombasa,Nyeri and Kisumu where thousands of poor households have difficulties in accessing the basic services. Meanwhile the government expects the current water shortage in Nairobi and its environs to ease in the when the anticipated October-December rains come. “The Ndakaini dam is currently at 30 per cent of its capacity but we expect it to fully recover within a short time if the rains come. The rehabilitation of the Sasumua dam is also near complete and we expect stable supplies,” the PS said.

Source – http://allafrica.com/stories/200909300941.html

Katine project update – Good sanitation deal gone bad

An Amref initiative to help parishes make and sell sanitation platforms for latrines has yet to take off. Is the Amref ‘partnership’ concept taking too long to sink in?

Michael Ekodu has not had a lot going his way in life. He never knew his father, who died when he was a baby. After completing primary school in 2005, he had to remain at home for a year before his mother found the money for secondary school fees. He studied for only one term in 2007, and then the money dried up so he sat at home again. He tried to make money by using his bicycle as a boda boda (taxi) but the baby-faced 19-year-old found the back-breaking business too “hard”.

Then a year ago, Amref presented a great opportunity. Four or five people from each of Katine’s six parishes would be trained in making concrete slabs or sanitation platforms (sanplats) used to construct pit latrines. The locals had been encouraged to adopt the sanplats as opposed to logs because they are more durable and easier to clean – messy logs can easily be a source of infections. Amref committed nearly Shs 18 million ($9,000) for this part of the Katine project.

Amref would later provide materials such as cement, sand and wire mesh for the masons to make and sell sanplats. The villagers would buy the sanplats and the trained masons would have thriving businesses, under the supervision of their parish sanitation committees.

It looked a good deal and Ekodu jumped at it, along with another man and two women from his parish of Merok. One year later, however, Ekodu’s hopes have faded as much as the red ‘AIG’ initials on his white Manchester United T-shirt . “The work [making sanplats] is no longer going on because we could no longer work without lunch,” he says, seated on a stool under a tree at his home in Oimai village. “We made about 30 slabs but we have not even sold one. Our reason for stopping work is that people are not buying the slabs, so there is no way we are going to benefit.”

Ekodu’s story is replicated in other parishes. Richard Abayi of Olwelai parish, in whose home the training took place, is stuck with 80 slabs. He and his four colleagues see no business sense in making more.

“We made 130 slabs but we sold only 50,” Abayi explains, counting the stock he keeps under a grass shelter in his compound. From Katine parish, Richard Ejemu, who so proudly demonstrated to me the process of making a slab at last year’s training, says he and his group have made 58 units but have not sold any.

The reasons for the failure of this scheme are the same across the three parishes sampled. The villagers are reportedly asking why things provided with support from Amref are being sold. In their wisdom, the sanplats – and for that matter other things from the NGO, should be given out free of charge. This is a common problem in development projects, where local communities see themselves as recipients as opposed to partners. But with the amount of time and resources the Amref project has dedicated to training, this viewpoint is a bit of a surprise.

“I try to educate our people that Amref can’t give out everything free of charge and that this is a partnership between Amref and the community, and some seem to understand,” says Ejemu, who is also the chairman of his Obiol village council.

According to Abayi, those who understand this argument complain that the price is too high. Each slab sells for Shs 7,000. Of this, the makers are supposed to use Shs 2,000 for their lunch at work and keep the balance of Shs 5,000 to build up their own capital and eventually wean themselves off Amref. The trouble with this idea is that on the open market, a slab costs up to 14,000.

A third reason for poor sanplat sales is the current food shortage in the Teso region in which Katine falls. With many families able to afford just one meal a day, Ekodu says the last thing they want to buy is slabs for a pit latrine. Yet, Ekodu and Abayi would like to be able to make and sell more slabs to raise money for buying their own food.

Amref project manager Oscar Okech acknowledges that the uptake of slabs in the region has been difficult. The escalating food shortages are one explanation, but so is the recipient mentality. Incidentally, Amref initially wanted to give out free slabs in the first year, sell them at half price in the second year and at full price in the third. But after discussions with the parish sanitation committees, it was agreed to start by selling them at half price.

Source – Aug 28, 2009, http://www.guardian.co.uk/katine/2009/aug/27/money-livelihoods

Kenya: two million people live in a human rights black hole in the slums of Nairobi

The Kenyan Public Health Act prescribes the health and safety measures that landlords must comply with, including the provision of sanitation and other services. As with other provisions, the local authorities do not enforce these against landlords or developers who build and rent homes in slums and settlements like Kibera.

Amnesty International has visited Kibera and other Nairobi slums as part of their global “Demand Dignity” campaign. The lack of adequate water and sanitation are recognized as human rights abuses. Amnesty is mobilizing slum residents to demand adequate housing and basic services.

Amnesty International released its report “The Unseen Majority: Nairobi’s Two Million Slum Dwellers” on 19 June 2009, which describes the dire conditions and gross human rights abuses endured in Nairobi’s informal settlements.

A performer from Black Marimba Cultural troop entertains marchers as they gather at Central Park, Nairobi. Photo: Amnesty International

Amnesty International’s Demand Dignity campaign aims to end global poverty by working to strengthen recognition and protection of the rights of the poor. Besides on slums, the campaign focuses on maternal mortality, corporate accountability and making rights law.

Read more on the Demand Dignity campaign web site

Demand Dignity Poster. Amnesty International

Source: Amnesty International, 19 Jun 2009

Kenya: water shortage increases cholera toll

An acute water shortage in parts of eastern and northeastern Kenya is fuelling the spread of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) and cholera, with deaths from new cases being reported, a senior health official has said.

“People are resorting to drinking water from anywhere because of the shortage,” Shahnaaz Sharif, director of public health in the Ministry of Public Health, told IRIN.

“Recently, four deaths have been reported in Garbatulla [District] where about 280 AWD cases have been reported in the last three weeks,” Sharif said, adding that samples from those affected had been collected for laboratory testing. [...] “In total, 24 cholera deaths and 1,452 cases of diarrhoea have been recorded since January [2009],” he said.

[...]

Inadequate sanitation has exacerbated the situation. “We only have one toilet for 600 pupils. It is the main reason why our school has been affected,” Sora Boru, a head teacher at Bullesa primary school in Isiolo, told IRIN. “Many children have [not] reported for school… Parents are keeping them at home.”

Hygiene awareness campaigns have been intensified in the water-scarce region.

According to Yussuf Ali, a trader, the price of bottled water has increased. “A half litre [bottle] of water is selling at Ksh.100 [about US$1.3]… even higher than petrol.

See also: Kenya: Acute watery diarrhoea kills eight in Coast Province, IRIN, 18 Jun 2009

Source: IRIN, 17 Jun 2009

Kenya: Sanitation – ‘This is the Way We Live’

Nairobi — In 1925, Mahatma Gandhi remarked that “Sanitation is more important than political independence.” More than 80 years later, access to basic sanitation remains out of reach for 546 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.

In East Africa, not one country is on track to meet Millennium Development Goal Seven, which aims to reduce by half the number of people without access to clean drinking water and decent sanitation by 2015.

Despite governments in the region being signatories to several declarations on improving sanitation, many East African households still lack access to flush toilets or pit latrines. Open defecation is widespread, and ‘flying toilets’, where people defecate in plastic bags and throw them away at night are the rule rather than the exception in many informal settlements.

“This is the way we live. We do not have toilets, and no place to safely dispose of our waste,” said Nicholas Ambeyo. “Because of this, and the lack of sufficient water, and the open sewers that run through our houses, we are at a risk of contracting diseases.”

Ambeyo spoke to IPS in his home in Kibera. With a population estimated to be close to a million people, Kibera is one of Africa’s largest slums. It is approximately seven kilometres from Nairobi city centre.

“In fact as we are talking, my wife has just arrived home from that hospital with my two children who have been treated for cholera,” he said, pointing at a run-down health centre a stones’ throw away.

Poor sanitation facilities often lead to ill health. For instance 30 percent of Kenya’s disease burden is sanitation-related, with many children dying from diarrhoeal diseases including dysentery, cholera and typhoid, according to the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation. The U.N. says that such deaths could be prevented through investment in toilets, water and hygiene.

Even so, toilet cover in Kenya is still low, with latrines available to less than 50 percent of the population, according to James Gesami, the country’s assistant minister for Public Health and Sanitation.

Although Kenya and other eastern African countries committed themselves to increased financing for sanitation at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in 2002 – promising to reduce the proportion of people without basic sanitation facilities – the issue has not been prioritised in national budgets since then.

“Sanitation is a newly thought-out issue and we have not given adequate resources to that sector, but things are changing now,” Gesami told IPS. Government statistics show that budgetary allocation to sanitation in Kenya currently stands at 13 million dollars per year, too little for the country to reach the sanitation MDG. It is estimated that the country will require about 40 million dollars per year if is to achieve the MDG by the set deadline of 2015.

In Sudan, the situation is not much different, even in the north, which was relatively stable during the two-decade long civil strife. A 2008 United Nations Development Programme report indicates that Sudan is far from achieving the sanitation MDG, especially in war-affected areas. Access to improved sanitation in Southern Sudan is at 6.4 percent, way below the 2015 target of 53 percent.

Access to improved sanitation in the north stands at 39.9 percent, edging closer to the 2015 target of 67 percent. Minimal budgetary allocations for sanitation have made it difficult for the government to provide the majority of poor citizens with basic toilet and latrine facilities. This has been blamed for the widespread outbreaks of diarrhoeal ailments, according to Elobeid Mohammed, coordinator of Sudan National Discourse, a water and sanitation non-governmental body.

“Diarrhoea, especially among children is common during autumn because of the rains and blocked sewers. These are diseases that can be prevented by ensuring access to toilets and hygiene. By doing this, the government can save money and pump it to other crucial sectors of development,” Mohammed told IPS.

Charles Hakizimana, chairman of the African Ministers’ Council on Water, says efforts to improve latrine coverage have been jeopardised by extreme poverty, illustrating the situation with an example from Burundi.

“There are cases where development agencies have provided material to communities to dig latrines, but [beneficiaries] sell them and continue defecating in the bush. Often times the people have said: “give us food first, there is no need to construct pit latrines when we do not have anything to put in them,” Hakizimana, said.

In addition, there are social obstacles to providing sanitation to all. For instance, in several parts of East Africa, it is taboo for fathers-in-law to share a latrine with his daughters-in-law or mothers-in-law to share with sons-in-law. Usually because there is only one latrine in a home, those who cannot share the facility opt for open defecation, polluting the environment.

Constructing separate latrines for different family members is far too costly. Sanitation experts say communities need to be informed in order to change their attitudes, and accept that it is in order for relatives to share a toilet to avoid environmental contamination.

According to the UN, the sheer volume of human waste is also something to be concerned about. “Without effective sanitation systems, human waste flows directly into water courses and contaminates groundwater. Water supplies are compromised, rivers become stinking sewers and fisheries are threatened,” says a UN-WATER report published recently.

Speaking as the host of a regional review of sanitation held in Nairobi in November, Edward Kairu, chairman of the African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation, said, “Our governments must take the lead. A lot needs to be done. If we continue with business as usual, the sanitation MDG risks not being met at all in our countries.”

Source – allAfrica

Diarrhoea: Donors urged to tackle leading killer of under-fives – reports by WaterAid and PATH

Two major aid agency reports published this week say millions of children’s lives are being put at risk because governments and the international aid community are not responding appropriately to diseases such as diarrhoea.

“Diarrhoea kills more children than HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB combined, yet compared to these diseases receives little financing and is not prioritised by governments in donor and developing country governments alike,” said Oliver Cumming, co-author of a report by Water Aid, “Fatal neglect: How health systems are failing to comprehensively address child mortality” [Read the WaterAid press release , 12 May 2009, here]‘.

The report shows that between 2004 and 2006 only $1.5 billion was spent globally on improving sanitation. In the same period, $10.8 billion was spent on interventions for HIV/AIDS – responsible for 315,000 child deaths in that period, and $3.5 billion on interventions for malaria – responsible for 840,000 child deaths.

A health worker in the only government-run clinic in Kibera said diarrhoea was a major problem in the slum, which is home to over one million of Kenya’s poor. [...] “There are a lot of cases of children dying of diarrhoea because the health service in a slum setting such as this is not so well distributed,” added the health worker who asked to remain anonymous.

[...] Another report “Diarrheal Disease: Solutions to Defeat a Global Killer” by health advocacy group PATH, speculates that in the 1970s and 1980s awareness-raising and fund-raising for tackling the problem were so successful that the mortality rate fell by almost 50 percent. It says many donors, governments and aid agencies may have considered the problem solved.

But the issue is far from solved. Water Aid says that when taking into account adult deaths, funding for HIV/AIDS is balanced, but when considering child deaths, the large resources for fighting the disease are disproportionate.

Both reports highlight that relatively cheap fixes can be effective – for example educating people to wash their hands, using water purifiers and disinfectants and taking rehydration salts for diarrhoea. But the aid community is not devoting sufficient funds or attention to the problem, the reports say.

The Kenyan government is working with aid groups to educate the public on good hygiene, improve water chlorination and provide communities with water purifiers and disinfectants. But the financial burden is high, says Kenya’s Health Minister Shahnaaz Sharif. “A lot of donor agencies are not concentrating on diarrhoea and then it is left up to the individual governments to handle those programmes and most governments cannot cope,” Sharif told AlertNet.

The Kibera health worker said she believed some funding for HIV, TB and malaria would do more good if it was diverted to treating diarrhoeal diseases in young children. “If I was offered a wish list, I would say we channel a lot of funds (to) healthcare for children under five with an emphasis on diarrhoea and malnutrition,” she added.

Source: Natasha Elkington, Reuters AlertNet, 14 May 2009

From WaterAid report "Fatal Neglect".

Nairobi – City toilets are now hubs of entertainment

Answering a call of nature in Nairobi’s Central Business has always been a nightmare but it is no longer a scary business

Mr David Kuria has been on a mission to ensure trips to city toilets are both pleasant and memorable.

For him, toilets are not all about filth and rot envisioned in most people’s minds.

Disturbed by lack of toilets in most towns and informal settlements, he quit a well paying job as an architect with a non-governmental organisation to engage in ‘toilet’ business.

“I quit at the time when polythene papers were being used as toilets in Kibera and other slums. I felt I could play a role in improving people’s lifestyles,” he says.

Kuria, 37, says he quit his job because it limited his services to the rich few.

“I used to serve only a few people who could afford to pay for it, yet the masses I really wanted to serve lived miserably. I could not resist climbing down to their world,” he says.

Kuria made solid waste management his entry point. While still working for the NGO, he fundraised for people who had taken up garbage recycling.

“That way, I became part of the solution to the sanitation problems of the majority. One thing led to another, culminating in ecologically friendly toilets I christened ‘Iko’, a convenient version of ecological,” he says.

Andrew Macharia Gakunju, 70, who founded City Garbage recyclers in Maringo estate, was among Kuria’s earliest beneficiaries. Kuria lobbied the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to fence off a plot Macharia had acquired from the City Council of Nairobi to keep away grabbers. UNDP also donated various recycling machines and a pick-up truck to Macharia.

In appreciation, Macharia recommended Kuria for an award from Ashoka; a global organisation that identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs. He won a Change Makers award of $200,000 (Sh16 million). The East African Breweries later donated a similar amount to Kuria “to further boost his worthy cause”.

Armed with architectural skills and the experience gleaned over eight years in urban and environmental management, Kuria opted to devote his time to create toilets that are environment friendly.

He has taken solid waste management a notch higher through his plan to covert human waste deposited at ‘Iko’ toilets into energy saving biogas to light premises and into natural manure to be packaged and sold at affordable prices to boost agriculture.

He says urine will be collected in tanks and processed into urea to be used for top dressing crops instead of Calcium Ammonium Nitrate, which is beyond the reach of most farmers.
Kuria works in collaboration with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).

To facilitate conversion of urine into urea, he plans to install a waterless urinal technology imported from China.

“The urinals will save us more than 10,000 litres of water at each toilet daily,” he says.

Kuria also wants to change the notion that a toilet is a messy, dirty place.

Catholic priest ‘blessed’ it

“Besides the snacks, the music and a business like atmosphere in and around the toilets, we are talking to politicians to hold public functions within the ‘iko’ toilets,” he says.

Public Health Minister Beth Mugo has held a function at one of the toilets. Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka had his shoes brushed at a stand near one of the toilets at Aga Khan Walk.

Kuria says a Catholic priest also ‘blessed’ one of the toilets.

The architect says he will sign contracts with popular musicians to entertain their fans at the toilets.

“Those who love ohangla, isukuti, mugithi, nyatiti and ndombolo may soon find themselves dancing around ‘Iko’ toilets,” he says.

He also plans to bring aboard comedians such as the popular Vitimbi troupe.

Sports are high on the agenda of Kuria’s promotional exploits to change people’s thinking about toilets.

“This month, we are launching a toilet tournament in Mathare to link toilets with sports”.

And that is not all. Kuria says he is working on a reality show on toilets to be aired on local television.

“There will be prizes for those who best portray toilets as multipurpose utilities,” he says.

With a chuckle he says: “Toilets are the multiple service units of the future. You may soon be doing mobile phone money transfers in the toilet. Airtime is available and it is only a matter of time before you start buying handsets at toilet booths,” he says.

There are eleven ‘Iko’ toilets in Nairobi and Limuru and Naivasha. At the precincts of the toilets, there are outlets for snacks, fruits and water.

Other services include shoe shining. There are also installed music systems to belt out tunes that soothe nerves as one answers the call of nature.

Kuria says his innovative approach to the vital toilet service has earned him recognition from the World Toilet Organisation, based in China, with the inclusion of ‘Iko’ toilets in the hall of fame of sanitation. He is also among 2,000 businesspeople recognised by Ashoka.

He plans to expand these facilities countrywide exapnsion. “We also want to go to other countries. Uganda and South Africa have already approached me for ‘Iko’ toilets,” he says.

Born in 1971 in Elburgon, Kuria went to Michinda High School and the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. He graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1992. He is pursuing a Master of Arts Degree in Environmental Science. He is married with two children.

Read More – The Standard

Kenya – Strategic guidelines for improving water and sanitation services in Nairobi’s informal settlements

Strategic guidelines for improving water and sanitation services in Nairobi’s informal settlements. Water and Sanitation Program, 2009. (pdf, full-text)

Here the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) introduces the work achieved by the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) and the Athi Water Services Board (AWSB) and their guidelines for water supply and sanitation interventions in informal settlements.

The document starts with an overview of the situation of Nairobi and its informal settlements. Then, technical options for water supply, sanitation, drainage as well as the development of technical capacity and appropriate standards are suggested, along with financial and management options. Finally guiding principles are presented. These include for instance: social, economic and financial principles, institutional and management arrangements, and working with stakeholders.