The High Court in Kisumu has issued orders for the shut down of Kibos Sugar factories for the next two weeks.

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Acting on a petition filed by three area residents, a Kisumu Environment Land Court judge restrained the factory from operating, pending another hearing on November 14.

The ban which affects the the factory's sugar milling and ethanol production departments as well affects her allied industries, reports Citizen Digital.

The three; Betha Opiyo, Benson Adega and Erick Ochieng' moved to court complaining of environmental pollution by the factory's operations through effluent discharge into local rivers.

The trio further accused the factories of producing harmful ashes which is dumped into the community and raw sewer which finds its way on the roads.

Basing their argument on the Environmental Management and Coordination Act of 1999 of the Kenyan constitution, the petitioners termed the company's operations as illegal.

The judge, however, only granted two of the orders sought by the petitioners, among them, the invalidation of the factory's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) certificate.

But reacting to the ruling, the company lawyer Francis Olel poked holes into the judgement, terming it injurious to the neighboring communities.

He noted that the over 2, 000 people who depend on the factories for a living will henceforth be rendered unemployed as well as cane farmers supplying the firm.

He disclosed that they would move to the appellate court on Thursday to challenge the decision.