Excremental Politics in Kibera: Perpetuating Inequality and Exclusion
When I first began researching sanitation issues in Kibera, I realized that the conversation goes far beyond toilets and waste disposal—it’s about power, control, and who gets to live with dignity. In Kibera, one of Nairobi’s largest informal settlements, sanitation is not just a public health issue; but a reflection of how certain communities are systematically excluded. This form of exclusion, which I have come to understand as excremental politics, reveals how the lack of adequate sanitation perpetuates social and economic inequalities, trapping residents in a cycle of poverty and marginalization.
Sanitation as a Tool of Exclusion
As I explored Kibera’s sanitation infrastructure, or rather the absence of it, I couldn’t help but see how this lack of services is political. Who gets access to safe, clean toilets is not a neutral issue. In Kibera, many of the sanitation facilities are privately owned and pay-per-use, meaning that something as basic as using the toilet is a privilege. For the majority of Kibera’s residents, the cost of using these facilities is an everyday struggle, forcing them to rely on makeshift solutions like flying toilets (plastic bags used for defecation and thrown away) or dangerous, unsanitary public latrines. Through this, I saw how government neglect reinforces inequality. By failing to provide affordable, accessible sanitation, the state effectively ignores the needs of people living in informal settlements. This neglect disproportionately affects the poorest households, leaving them to fend for themselves in conditions that are not only undignified but harmful to their health and well-being.
Sanitation and the Gendered Dimension in Kibera
One of the most striking revelations I found was the deep interlink between gender inequality and sanitation issues. The lack of proper sanitation facilities in Kibera is unique for women and girls. I spoke with women who told me of nights they would risk assault walking to far away or dark toilets. They told how they try to restrict intake of water after set hours to refrain from going to the toilet after dark and the risks of dehydration. School absenteeism amongst them is common when they do not have enough hygiene facilities and during the period as it causes their educational underperformance and in doing so, contributes to their own and more intensely takes them into gender disparities, this is particularly heartbreaking. I realised that sanitation is not just a matter of health, but a genuine issue in the broader question of the exclusion of women from participation.
Economic and Social Impact of Poor sanitation
Digging deeper into the roots of the problem, I also began to see how lack of adequate sanitation worsens economic exclusion. According to many residents of Kibera, those engaged in informal work, days are squandered just trying to get from point A to point B when it comes to the overcrowded and underutilized sanitation facilities. Poor sanitation also means that they are ill frequently, reducing their ability to earn a living. One of my first meetings with families spending much of what meagre income they have on medical bills for waterborne diseases that could have easily been prevented with proper sanitation. The financial strain associated with this reinforces that cycle of poverty that keeps residents of Kibera excluded. Sanitation also means access to a toilet, not just a toilet, but one that works, which can lead to giving a child the opportunity to go to school, to go to work, to move place to place.
Government Inaction vs. Community Solutions
In Kibera’s similar grim situation, I was inspired by the resilience of the town’s residents. I saw several communities led initiatives trying to tackle the sanitation challenges. One such effort is the Umande Trust, which has set up bio-centres in Kibera, environmentally and safely piped toilets and biogas as renewable energy sources. The initiatives are basic grassroots efforts to do what the government has long refused to do. But the more time I spent researching about Kibera, the more I realized that while these projects are important, they won’t solve the scale of the sanitation crisis. In contrast, the local authorities have either been in action or equally in inaction. And, by not investing (disinvestment) in sustainable sanitation infrastructure, the government only adds to that gap between those who live in informal settlement and the rest of Nairobi such as Langata, a nice neighbourhood.
Infrastructure, Politics, Exclusion (Right-to-city)
The more I reflected on this, the more that Kibera’s sanitation crisis is open to how infrastructure and exclusion encapsulate the problem. Urban planning decisions in Nairobi don’t take informal settlements like Kibera into account. Physical manifestation of the political and economic exclusion faced by some residents is the lack of sanitation infrastructure. What it is a reminder of is that they are not considered full citizens with rights to basic services. However, their occurrence, and by implication their existence, is marginalized—literally and figuratively—by the city around them.
Path forward
Looking back on my research, I am sure that we’re not just giving people better access to public health when we work on the sanitation crisis in Kibera, we’re tackling structural inequalities that have, quite often, sidelined this community of the urban poor. If we are determined to build a more inclusive, equitable Nairobi, we should rethink the way we plan for and handle urban planning and sanitation. It means treating sanitation as a human right and that the people of Kibera should have access to dignified, affordable and safe sanitation facilities.
