I'll Rejoice Only When Kenyan Youths Commercialise 'Flying Toilets'

Of late I have come to develop a deep attachment to Nairobi's social dynamics, its people - and anything exclusively "Nairobian". One of this is the recent stripping of a woman, allegedly by touts, for "dressing indecently".

Life of a Nairobian has many contrasting facets. The 2009 national census puts Nairobi City County at, well, a better position on matters education. A Nairobi resident is, by comparative standards, believed to be exposed (to many marks of progress) than say, a chap from far flung Turkana County. 

On information flow, "city people" (no pun intended) still lead the crowd. A Kenyan in Nairobi has higher chances of knowing say, when new laws take effect and the content of such laws. This is diametrically opposed to what happens in the deep pockets of Baringo. 

Still on numbers. A huge chunk of Nairobians, (forty-nine per cent to be exact), falls in the category of active, mobile and informed population (i.e 15-34 year olds).

From statistical perspective, Nairobi looks like heaven on earth - the Promised Land of Kenya. But, recall the stripping incident and you spoil the party. 

The rosy numbers notwithstanding, Nairobi - and by extension, Kenya - stands on hot ground. There is ingrained bitterness among the ballooning masses of young people of this country. They are desperate and unstable. They are looking for a way to vent out their anger. 

Like the proverbial happiness-chasers, they are out on the streets looking for ways to "cool down" their tempers and assert their position. Mark you, their prime target isn't the mighty.

Public stripping of a woman in Nairobi is thus not an isolated case. It is a wakeup call to the nation that a deadly tsunami is ashore. The earlier we fortify our defenses the better.

Back to our numbers. Twelve per cent of Nairobians use unimproved sanitation - official euphemism for lack of toilets (commonly referred to as 'flying toilets'). This means about half a million of the city population - majority of whom live in slums – are victims of Nairobi "toilet-shortage" menace. Literally speaking, these people are on their own. Not even their county government is troubled by this choking condition.

Now, consider the figures streaming in from across the other forty-six counties. Put them together, then bring in Nairobi's monumental figure and you see a real tornado staring at Kenya. A tornado of "toiletlessness"!

Wait, some sweet news is coming. There is wealth behind this "toiletlessness". Some clever characters in the Mukurus (slums) of Nairobi are already on it. Get a glimpse of what they do.

They distribute "service bags" (these are special polythene/plastic bags used by slum dwellers to store human excreta). They charge a fee no less than Ksh. 5 is paid for every "service" rendered!

Now do the maths. Nairobi County alone with its half a million-strong "toilet-shortage victims" gives something close to Ksh.2, 500,000 per day. This goes straight into the pockets of those witty Mukuru chaps.

Look, this multi-billion-shilling toilet industry must be calibrated to save our young people from self-destruction. And there is a way to actualise this.

First step: There is need for an official recognition of the bad shape of our public health sector - in this case, the risks facing millions of Kenyan "toilet-shortage victims".

Second step: A public-private partnership in toilet construction and management is, probably, the way to go to realize tangible results for both the youth and the general public.

Think for a moment, if, the county government of Nairobi embarks on mass construction of toilets in its low-income areas and call in youth groups to manage them (toilets), how many of our young people would secure full time employment – and by extension get off the streets?

Heavy handed treatment and mass arrests of jobless youths, dedicated hawkers, mama mbogas et al, won’t stop others from stripping women. We must address the root cause of these "illegal" acts. 

Poverty – material and mental – is the cause of this degeneration.

It is historical truism that human beings – when pushed by material want and desperation – would resort to wearing a temporary gown of insanity to appease their mental self. This, my people, is the push behind the pettiness evident in Kenya’s socio-econo-political spheres. (I’m in no way defending those stripping women).

Thinking outside the box is the way. Make money from ‘flying toilets’ and save our youth. This, in my view, is the safest option to save ourselves from public embarrassment.

Remember, it began with stripping women for “dressing indecently”; who knows tomorrow you will be the one on the chopping board?

Lemukol Ng’asike is an Architect. E-mail: lemoseh89@gmail.com . Twitter: @mlemukol.