Abstract: The aim of the study was to assess the existing socio-economic barriers and community participation in waste management in Ngaba Municipality, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The study was anchored on collective action theory. A mixed method with convergent-parallel design was used. A population of 5,985 household heads and 8 local leaders was targeted. Further, 386 households were sampled using Yamane's formula of 1967 and stratified technique used to recruit the household heads while 8 local authorities were considered purposively. Interviews and observation techniques collected qualitative data while questionnaires gathered quantitative data. Validity was ensured by applying data triangulation to compare quantitative data from surveys with qualitative data from interviews with key informants. The quantitative data was analyzed using statistical techniques with the help of SPSS Version-27. Qualitative data were analyzed through semantic and narrative thematic analysis. Results show that, socio-economic and institutional factors hinder efficient management of domestic wastes because of poor government support, infrastructure, poor level of awareness and lack of incentives, regardless of affordable costs associated with the services. The study concluded that, household waste management in Ngaba Municipality is greatly impeded by intertwined socioeconomic issues. The study made a recommendation that the Ministry of Environment and Municipal Authorities (Ngaba Municipality): Enhance waste management processes through strengthening the service delivery process by ensuring there is enough infrastructure like waste bins, collection facilities, and waste collection services and addressing weaknesses in institutional capability which have made it hard to effectively engage with households on waste management Key words: Socio-Economic Barriers, Community Participation, Waste Management