We need fair and clear system of paying victims of State injustices

Amnesty International Kenya Executive Director Irungu Houghton. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

Justice for the people of Owino Uhuru comes up once again in the Mombasa Environment and Land Court Monday morning. It has been 12 years since Metal Refinery (EPZ) Ltd was closed after toxic lead poisoning changed the lives of this Changamwe community forever.

What is at stake for this community’s right of redress and compensation and the nation’s right to a clean and healthy environment? About 3,000 people in 450 households were living on the 13.5‑acre Owino‑Uhuru village in Changamwe, Mombasa when, in 2006, Penguin Paper and Book Company leased the neighbouring plot to Metal Refinery EPZ Ltd to set up a lead‑acid battery recycling plant next door. What followed became one of the worst documented environmental disasters in Kenyan history. According to court records, Metal Refinery’s lead recycling leaked toxic waste into soil, water and air leading to irreparable damage to their staff and neighbours.