Firm
gets a 15 day deadline
to
remove asbestos waste
The High Court today gave a company that dumped poisonous
asbestos waste in land associated with the family of a former Chief Justice
Kitili Mwendwa in Kitui County a 15 day ultimatum to remove and dispose of the poisonous
cargo currently quarantined at Kitui Stadium.
Justice A O Angote, sitting
in Machakos, also barred Kitili’s son-Maluki Kitili Mwendwa and the company-
Sonata Limited- from depositing any hazardous waste in Kiongwe Valley LR Number
Nzambani/ Maluma/ 690, pending the hearing of a suit filed by the Kitui County
Government against the pair.
Today’s order signifies
a major victory for Kitui Governor Kaluki Ngilu who made an election pledge to
protect Kitui people from the poisonous effects of the asbestos waste that
Maluki and Sonata Ltd buried at Kiongwe valley, endangering the lives of
thousands of residents who draw water from streams originating from the area
marked as a water tower.
The judge partially
allowed prayers sought by the County Government of Kitui in an Environment and
Land Court Petition Number 2 of January 16, 2018. The petition was prosecuted
by Lead Counsel Mr. Simon Malonza. Mr. Malonza is assisted by lawyers Mr.
Davidson Makau and Marriane Mutuvi.
The judge also slapped
undisclosed costs of the removal of the waste to Sonata Ltd and directed that
the company, Nema and Maluki pays costs of the application to the County
Government.
“ A mandatory injunction be and is hereby
issued compelling the 1st respondent to identify and relocate the
asbestos which had been deposited on the suit land to a different and suitable
site, within fifteen(15) days, for disposal of the waste in accordance with the
provisions of the Environmental Management and Coordination Act pending the hearing
and determination of the petition” said Justice Angote.
The County Government
has listed as respondents Messers Sonata Kenya Limited, Maluki Kitili Mwendwa,
National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) as Ist, 2nd and 3rd
respondents. Incidentally, Maluki is the immediate former NEMA Chairman.
In the petition, the
government is seeking 9 prayers that include a declaration that Sonata Kenya
Limited is in breach of Article 42 of the Constitution of Kenya and that the
act of dumping asbestos waste in Kiongwe valley in connivance with Maluki, had
denied the residents of Kitui County the right to a clean and healthy
environment as guaranteed in Article 42 of the Constitution, thus leading to a
breach of the Constitution.
The government also
seeks and order for the restoration of Kiongwe valley to its original state
before it was violated by dumping of the poisonous waste and refund of tax payers’
money that the County Government used to remove the waste.
The suit follows the
removal of the asbestos from the site that is also claimed by the Mwendwa
family on instructions by Mrs. Ngilu soon after being sworn into office.
