AN Environment and Land Court has awarded 1,032 waste pickers working at the Dandora dumpsite Ksh.25.8 million in damages after finding that their constitutional rights were violated due to prolonged exposure to air pollution.
The judgment was delivered virtually on Thursday February 5,2026 from Kisii, where Justice Anne Omollo ruled in favour of the waste pickers against the Nairobi County Government and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) finding that while the plaintiffs did not prove personal injury damages specifically they were still entitled to compensation
The petition was filed by five waste pickers on September 19, 2023, on behalf of 1,032 waste pickers, alleging that unchecked air pollution at the dumpsite had exposed them to serious health risks and had subsequently degraded their living conditions.
The Nairobi County government argued that the waste pickers were not its employees and as such it did not owe them any care. It also detailed its stalled efforts of rehabilitating the dumpsite citing logistical and financial constraints.
The plaintiffs, through their lawyer Ken Amondi and Company Advocates, argued that the waste pickers form the “backbone” of recycling in the city yet are completely excluded from policy decision-making.
The dumpsite was declared full in 2001 and continues to receive over 2,000 tonnes of waste daily and remains an important, yet dangerous, source of livelihood for thousands of Nairobi’s urban poor.
The court documents further detailed the public health emergency citing that the plaintiffs sort waste manually without protective gear and that the county’s failure to manage the 47-hectare site has exposed them to deadly toxins, leading to reproductive harm, cancers, and neurological damage
Justice Omollo found that several fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution were breached by the Nairobi County government by failing to effectively manage waste and mitigating pollution.
“Article 70(3) of the Constitution expressly provides that an applicant does not have to demonstrate personal loss or injury in order to obtain redress for a violation or threatened violation of the right to a clean and healthy environment,” he stated emphasizing that constitutional remedies serve to protect rights not compensate for losses.
The court awarded each of the 1,032 waste pickers Ksh.25,000, as compensation bringing the total damages payable by the Nairobi County Government to Ksh.25,800,000.
