An environmentalist has threatened to sue the national government for failing to adhere to the plastic ban that was set up six years ago. James Wakibia cited that the government had not enforced the ban that sought to have the 60 micron bags eliminated from the market. “The constitution, under Article 41, requires the government to provide us with clean environment which it has failed to do. I am holding talks with my lawyers and we intend to go to court soon,” he said.
According to Wakibia, the government should be held responsible for the clogged drainage in major towns and the recent cholera outbreaks. “The deaths of more than 60 people and infections of more than 300 should not have happened. This would have been history if they had made good of their law to rid the country of the plastic bags,” he noted.
Wakibia appealed to parliament to revisit the law and seek for a way forward. “As long as we have the plastic menace, we will have disease outbreaks and clogged sewer systems we cannot control the health of our people,” he cited. He also appealed to other environmentalists to help in pushing for the ban of the plastic bags. “They are even a nuisance for the residents. In windy places they fly all over and land in your faces,” he said.