This Easter, Kenya must eliminate asbestos before the next generation suffers its health effects.

Contractors replace asbestos roofing at Kimathi Estate, Nakuru on Tuesday. Nema has stopped the project citing health risks.
[Harun Wathari, Standard]

In Kenya, an old roof is often mistaken for a reliable one. In too many schools, hospitals, and public offices, that assumption is dangerously false. What looks durable may actually be deteriorating because many buildings from the 1960s and 1970s still contain asbestos, a material once praised for its toughness and now known to be carcinogenic. Easter asks every nation a moral question: what do we do when innocence is burdened with a risk it did not choose? No child voted for this risk.

 The answer cannot be delay. The story of Easter is not just about the cruelty of the cross; it’s also about the failure of authority to act decisively when truth was in front of it. Pilate saw the moment, gauged the pressure, and washed his hands. Kenya must not do the same with children learning under aging roofs and patients seeking healing beneath materials that can release fine fibers into the air when damaged or disturbed.