Nairobi residents were recently shocked after a public toilet located around the National Archives was demolished.
The toilet, according to traders around the area, used to serve hundreds of people owing to its strategic location in the city centre.
What many people are however not aware of is that running a public toilet is a lucrative business in Nairobi raking in millions of shillings annually.
For this reason, some senior politicians have been fighting to control the 27 toilets in the heart of the capital city.
Even though the toilets around the city centre are supposed to be shared equally among the groups with businesses in the city.
It costs Sh15,000 to Sh20,000 to rent a public toilet in a month and one around OTC is said to be serving hundreds on a daily basis.
In the past, public facilities were pathetic but the formation of Nairobi Central Business Group, which fixed the mess using the groups, was later tasked to run the lavatories at fee so as to recover their money used for rehabilitation and extra period to make proceeds.
Some of the prime toilets include the one at Kenya National Archives, Accra Road, Latema, River Road, Harambee Avenue, Railways, Muthurwa Market and OTC.
On average, a toilet in the city centre earns Sh10,000 daily or slightly more for those in strategic points like OTC, Bus Station, Accra Road and Muthurwa Market. Business is even better when it rains.
This means a single toilet rakes in over Sh300,000 per month.
The city centre’s 20 public toilets earn Sh2 million daily. This translates to about Sh60 million every month.
