Annexed Nairobi CBD backstreets: How we got here

The takeover of alleys in Nairobi’s city centre by businesspeople is a recent problem that can be traced to a change of guard at City Hall after the first decade of the 2000s.

During the reign of indefatigable Nairobi town clerk John Gakuo, alleys served their purpose as fire exits, as well as helping pedestrians manoeuvre from one point to another in the crowded capital.

But the situation changed when Gakuo left office, with the gains he had made in restoring order in the city between 2004 and 2009 reversed by successive administrations.

When Gakuo joined City Hall, he found that many alleys had been taken over and converted into stalls, were choking with garbage and had been taken over by street urchins and turned into bedrooms and lavatories.

Loathed disorder

Gakuo, who had left a prestigious position as an under-secretary in the public health department to take up the new role at the defunct Nairobi City Council, is said to have loathed disorder.

He demanded that his officers account for their performance.

He had a hands-on approach, taking action on complaints from residents who called his personal phone number and even responding to grievances raised in newspaper columns.

This proactive management style brought instant transformation in Nairobi in the five years he was in office.

It is during Gakuo’s tenure that street lighting, trees and litter bins became essential amenities in the capital city.

Littering, public urination and numerous other violations of city by-laws were punished by the council’s various inspectorate teams.

“I utilised the inspectorate officers and my powers fully. At division (sub-county) levels, we had divisional managers and inspectorate commanders to manage littering and dumping,” he once said in an interview.

Towed the line

“If we found garbage in a place we had cleared waste from, I held the immediate property owners or businesspersons responsible and dealt with them firmly. With time they towed the line and became our eyes on the ground. And if my men were to blame, I dealt with them firmly as well,” he added.

Former City Hall head of inspectorate and enforcement Peter Mbaya, who served across all the three administrations from Gakuo to governors Evans Kidero and Mike Sonko, blames corruption for the current disorder in the lanes.

Sub-county administrators and commanders, he said, are each allocated an area to oversee and nothing can happen in their jurisdictions without their and the enforcement boss’s knowledge.

But corruption has now made the habit of flouting county by-laws normal, with the officers looking the other way as “the fish rots from the head”.

“Members of the public know when they are flouting the regulations as they know where they are supposed to be or not, but they take advantage of the situation. They know that if I give you Sh50,000 then you will allow me to be somewhere, why don’t I give the money?” Mr Mbaya said.

Powerful position

This could not have happened in Gakuo’s time, as the position of town clerk was powerful and the holder was independent of the mayor.

The late Gakuo was powerful and strict and the mayor could not interfere with his work, Mr Mbaya said.

“The current county secretary, who is the equivalent of the town clerk, is no longer powerful as he is an appointee of the governor and so is just a political stooge,” he said.

“If the governor says unamharibia kisiasa (undermining his political standing) then you have to lie low. That is where the problem is.”

Bringing in police officers to head the enforcement department, Mr Mbaya said, has also contributed to the ongoing rot, with the mixture of police and county officials a huge problem because of the blame game between the two sides.

“I’m not saying county officers are not corrupt but things are nowadays being done carelessly. A police officer is in charge but when questions come then they say they are not city council officers but police officers. The former no longer have any say.”

Security and counterterrorism expert Richard Tuta said alleys are important and there is a reason city planners created and designed them the way they are.

Escape routes in emergencies

They can be used as escape routes in emergencies, he said, as well as to block disasters like fires spreading from one building to another. Buildings, he said, must have access areas from the back.

“In forests, there are lines that serve as fire breaks in case of a fire outbreak. So even these corridors (between buildings) have got the same purpose,” he explained.

He said that on security, we must think on a what-if basis, by asking ourselves the likelihood of some things happening and how the impact can be reduced.

“Even when driving, one has a spare wheel and a jack even if the car is brand-new. This is because you are thinking in a probabilistic manner. Imagine developing a puncture and you don’t have a spare and a jack. The impact will be severe on you.”

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