Mombasa slum dwellers sue State, AG and NEMA over lead poisoning

A worker busy at the lead section in the Chinese industry at Industrial Area in Nakuru which has seen youths suffer from lead infections. [PHOTO: BONIFACE THUKU]

The residents of Owino Uhuru in Mombasa County are seeking compensation for the damage caused by a lead battery factory in the area.

The petitioners claim that since the factory commenced operations in 2006, there have been more than 20 deaths attributed to lead poisoning.

The factory associated with a former prominent politician and tycoon was established to collect used batteries for smelting.

Expert analysis has indicated that carbon compounds emitted from the process entered the food chain and living quarters in adjacent Owino Uhuru slums through effluent and smoke emissions.

The residents of Owino Uhuru on Monday appeared before Justice Ann Amollo seeking orders for compensation and treatment for those who had developed respiratory complications and other illness due to the pollution.

Nine villagers, through Centre for Justice, Governance and Environmental Action, filed the petition in court in 2016 seeking its intervention after the relevant bodies failed to address their plight.

The petitioners have sued the Attorney General, the Cabinet secretaries in the ministries of Environment Water and Natural Resources and Health, the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), the county government of Mombasa, the Export Processing Zone Authority, Metal Refinery EPZ Ltd, and Penguin Paper and Book Company.

The suit has not been heard since 2016 since the respondents have not filed their responses and the judge warned that yesterday was the last time the matter would be adjourned.

Justice Amollo issued a 45-day notice to Nema and the AG to file their responses “failing which we shall proceed without them".

The petitioners’ lawyer, Charles Onyango, said he would call seven experts to testify and demonstrate the levels of lead poison in the village and the residents.

The petitioners want a declaration that their right to life as guaranteed in the Constitution was violated by the actions, inaction, and omission of the respondents.

In an affidavit sworn by 68-year-old Elizabeth Francisca Mwailu, a resident of Owino Uhuru for the past 24 years, she said the community began ailing shortly after the factory began operations.