The Peril that is Mwakirunge Dumpsite: A Social Impact Assessment Report’
Authors: - Benards Okeyo , - Amos Ngira Mujema 
Published: July 2024

Mwakirunge dump site is the main solid waste holding and handling facility for Mombasa city, a town with a total population of 1.5 million residents. Initially, the main solid waste dumping ground was at Kibarani, a beach site on the main entry to Mombasa city from the Nairobi highway. In 2002, the ‘Kibarani’ dump site was literally moved to Marimani which is barely 500 meters away from its current location in Mwakirunge. It is estimated that the dumpsite moved from Marimani to Mwakirunge in 2008. It is therefore safer to say the dumpsite has been in its current location for over 10 years. Ideally, the more improved version of dump sites - the landfills, have a lifespan of 5 years with some possibility for extension. Dumpsites should therefore have even much less a period.
The study determined that 54% of the current residents, both within the dumpsite itself and the vicinity, were born and raised there. The remaining 46% either moved into the area due to its expansive farm lands and also in an attempt to escape the ever burgeoning city life that is Mombasa town or migrated alongside the shifting locations of the dumpsite - from Kibarani to Marimani and finally to Mwakirunge. The interesting thing is that while 73% of the total residents say they have no role and are not directly linked to the dumpsite and only 23% are gainfully linked to the dumpsite, a whooping majority of up to 79% cite its negative effect on their daily lives. In other words, they gain nothing from it but lose everything by it. The bitterness increases with those who were born and raised there especially the generation that lived before the dumpsite was relocated to its current site in 2008. Equally, it is important to appreciate that about 27% of the residents including the dump site families have a direct social and economic link with the dumpsite.
The study noted a raft of socio-economic impacts and mostly the negative ones with a few exemptions. Many businesses of up-to 70% experienced negative outcomes from the dumpsite. This was largely in form of contraband goods finding their way into the villages and shops. There were however a few exceptions like the health facilities that were making good business out of treating or dispensing of drugs to a heavily infected population. Major effects were mostly born out of the toxic smoke, smell and flies, mosquitoes (must be understood that this kind of open dumping in a humid tropical climate is a conducive to such disease vectors like flies and mosquitoes). Other debilitating effects noted were; blocked roads which become very slippery during the rains - actually the main road artery connecting the Mombasa city to the villages of Colorado, Ngungombe, Mwakirunge and others pass through the dump site and are unprotected from its ever-increasing solid waste. Still this chain of demoralizing effects continued in the form of water sources contamination, particularly ground water and the main source of household water within the coastal belt of Kenya. The most confounding aspect of this is that once contaminated, it is exceedingly difficult to treat or rehabilitate ground water sources unlike with the surface waters. The study also noted the sad scenario of contraband goods particularly food items scooped from the dump site finding its way to the shop shelves or family tables - with the consequences of diseases and deaths - a case of five young children who ate biscuits from the dumpsite and became seriously ill is documented in this study. Other social issues included; increased child delinquency due to the negative influence from the dump site, the rampant littering of the entire sub-location occasioned by wastes being blown all over by wind, the increased insecurity, the soaring number of scavenger birds and animals complete with their scary and spread of contaminants were all apparent and well covered within this report.
Further, the study documented a myriad other challenges especially with health, including both the physical, mental and psychological effects. Quite a number of infections were rampant in the area. In fact over a 4 year period, using the data gathered from the public health department from 4 health facilities (dispensaries) spread in the area (Marimani, Mbirikani, Mwakirunge and Maunguja), a total of 37 infections were ever recurring within this area (table 6) each after year. The most common of all diseases were, 1) respiratory tract infections 2) diarrhoea and skin diseases. So widespread was respiratory diseases that they virtually dwarfed other illnesses all the years. This is clearly attributed to the poisonous gases spreading over the area all-day-long throughout the year. Cases of diarrhoea were also high and this is attributed to the open nature of the dump site. It is not just a breeding site of vectors like flies but it also gives rise to outflows being carried by both surface and ground water to adjacent areas. Truth be said, these vectors have a potential to spread and cause havoc in the whole of Mombasa city if no proper action is taken in the near future. Moreover, the diverse natural pathways are enough to spread these toxins to as wide an area beyond the imagined scope of the dump site. Other infections that were gleaned from the healthcare data were; pneumonia, asthma, tonsillitis, Malaria, ear infections, chicken pox, bilharzia, eye infections, animal (dog) bites among several others as shown in table 6.
In regard to mental health, the study unearthed quite a number of issues and infections, namely; sleeping sicknesses, increased stress levels, sadness, anger and even shame. A woman told of psychiatric reaction every morning she wakes up and gets a taste of the smoke. Since, these people have no where to go and are forced into these conditions, the results are such issues like the ones already listed