A total of 30 people arrested on Monday night for urinating and littering in the streets of Nairobi were on Tuesday sentenced to community service.

Following the arraignment of the offenders, a Nairobi city court ordered them to clean Nairobi Funeral Home (formerly City Mortuary) and sweep selected streets in the Central Business District (CBD).

The rest were ordered to clean Uhuru Park, which has been closed since the anti-government protests on June 25, 2024, where some of the sculptors were burned and others were vandalised.

The 30 men were arrested in a raid by Nairobi County Environment Department enforcement teams.

The clean-up of the morgue was supervised by the county city askaris and officers from the Health and Environment departments and booked at the Central Police Station.

Nairobi County Environment Chief Officer Geoffrey Mosiria who led the operation thanked the magistrate for rendering the punishment saying that it would serve as a lesson to those intending to continue breaking the law.

“We want to thank the magistrate for rendering the punishment and we want to remind those like breaking the law that we shall not relent on this. Our Nairobi today is not what it was before, and currently, everyone should take care of the environment. It is very wrong for people to urinate and dump garbage anywhere within the Central Business District (CBD),” said Mr Mosiria.

He urged Nairobians to familiarise themselves with the city by-laws and the Nairobi Public Nuisance Act 2021, adding that the county government will ensure that the city by-laws are obeyed.

The offenders who were sentenced to clean the City Mortuary were given gloves, water buckets, and brushes, and ordered to clean and ensure the facility was clean.

“Let this be a lesson to others that if you are found breaking the county laws, you will be subjected to the same,’ Mr Mosiria added.

According to the Nairobi Public Nuisance Act 2021, urinating or defecating in a public place carries a Sh10,000 fine or a six-month jail sentence or both.

Others include blowing your nose without a handkerchief or tissue paper in Nairobi, which if caught you risk being fined anything between Sh10,000 and Sh500,000 or an imprisonment term of between six to 12 months.

This also applies to when you are caught spitting on the streets, or sleeping in kitchens or food stores, among other misdemeanours.