What was once a cattle dip built to protect livestock from disease has been transformed into an open garbage dump, becoming a grim symbol of Magena town’s worsening waste-management crisis.
With no reliable garbage collection system, residents have turned to the abandoned facility as a dumping ground, piling household refuse where cattle once stood for treatment.
But the problem extends beyond the abandoned cattle dip.
At Magena Market, in Kisii, heaps of waste lie scattered around vegetable stalls, with rotting produce, plastic bags, cartons and other refuse competing for space with traders and customers.
For women who spend long hours selling vegetables, the deteriorating conditions have become a source of frustration and concern, with some fearing that the waste could pose health risks and drive away customers.
“This is where we earn our daily bread, but look at what we are being forced to work in,” said Jane Kwamboka, a trader, pointing at heaps of decomposing waste near her stall.
“You cannot sell food in a place that smells like this and expect customers to be comfortable.”
Mary Kemuma, another trader, said the approaching rains had heightened concerns among traders and residents.
“When the rains come, this garbage will not remain where it is. It will be washed everywhere — into the market, the trenches and possibly into people’s homes,” she said.
“We are afraid of what will happen to us.”
Kemuma said the county government should make garbage collection a routine service rather than an occasional exercise.
“We are tired of being told to keep the town clean when there is nowhere to take the garbage,” she said.
“You collect your rubbish in the morning and by evening you see people dumping it everywhere because nobody has come to collect it.”
She added that traders could not afford to fall sick because of poor waste management.
“We are mothers. We have children to feed. We cannot afford to become sick because of garbage that the authorities can easily remove,” she said.
The traders fear that decomposing waste, combined with heavy rains, could create conditions favourable to flies, mosquitoes and other disease-carrying pests.
Jane Moraa, another trader, said she was increasingly uncomfortable selling vegetables in an environment surrounded by rotting waste.
“Imagine buying tomatoes from a place full of flies and rotten vegetables. Even we sellers are uncomfortable. We wash our hands and vegetables, but the environment around us is dirty,” she said.
Moraa said the poor conditions were also affecting business.
“Some customers complain about the smell and leave. Who will compensate us when our businesses collapse because the market has become a dumping ground?” she asked.
Along the streets, the situation is equally troubling.
At Riobonyo, garbage dumped in open trenches has become a source of a pungent stench hanging over parts of the neighbourhood.
Waste has accumulated in drainage channels, raising concerns that heavy rains could sweep the refuse through the town and into residential areas.
Not far from the affected areas, butcher John Ombuna accused the county government of failing to act swiftly on the garbage problem.
“The county should take responsibility. We cannot continue keeping garbage in the town for days and weeks,” Ombuna said.
He said traders were willing to cooperate with authorities but needed a functioning waste-management system.
“We pay for services and we expect services. If garbage is not collected, people will look for alternative places to dump it. That is how the abandoned cattle dip has become a dumpsite,” he said.
For residents, the abandoned cattle dip is now only the most visible symbol of a much bigger problem.
The market is littered, drainage trenches are filling with waste, and sections of the town are being enveloped by the smell of decomposing refuse.
As the rains approach, traders fear the situation could worsen, with accumulated garbage potentially blocking drainage channels and being washed into other parts of the town.
“We don’t want promises. We want the garbage removed,” one trader said.
“Let the county come and see how we are living and working. We are the people who elected these leaders.”
Josephine Onsombi pointed at the piles of waste and questioned how long the situation could continue.
“If this is allowed to continue, where will we be in another month? Will they wait until the whole market is flooded with garbage before they act?” she asked.
For now, traders continue arranging their vegetables beside piles of refuse, hoping that the county government will respond before the rains turn Magena’s waste problem into a wider public health and environmental crisis.
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