NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 21 -- Thirty individuals arrested on Monday night for urinating and littering in the streets of Nairobi will now serve community service sentences at public facilities including Nairobi Funeral Home (City Mortuary).
A city court handed the sentences on Tuesday following the arraignment of the individuals arrested in a raid by Nairobi County Environment Department efforcement teams.
The court assigned other offenders to sweep selected streets in the Central Business District while some will clean up Uhuru Park which has remained closed to the public since dramatic events of June 25 when anti-government protestors vandalised the facility.
Addressing the media at the City Mortuary, Nairobi County Environment Chief Officer Geoffrey Mosiria welcomed the community service 'punishment', affirming that it will serve as a lesson to those intending to continue breaking the law.
"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)," he said.
Mosiria urged city residents to familiarize themselves with the city by-laws and the Nairobi Public Nuisance Act 2021.
"As a county, we will ensure that our city by-laws [are] obeyed," Mosiria said.
He cautioned others out to break county laws of similar sanctions.
According to the Nairobi Public Nuisance Act 2021, urinating or defecating in a public place carries a Sh10,000 fine, a six-month jail sentence, or both.
Other offences under the Nairobi City by-laws include committing any act contrary to public decency and destroying the surface of a public street.
Other punishable offences include use of parking space for advertisement or business, damaging a vehicle clamp, removing or attempting to remove the same, and obstructing an officer in enforcing city by-laws.
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