Environment
Six traders have been arrested in Kitengela town, Kajiado County after being found in possession of the banned plastic bags. The traders were arrested by officers from the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) after they were caught using the banned nylon plastic bags for packaging.
The crackdown comes after several complaints from members of the public over the re-emergence of the banned single use plastic bags. NEMA Deputy Director in charge of Enforcement Salome Machua, said the ban against the plastic bags is still in place and warned traders from using them adding that those arrested would be arraigned in court.
Machua noted that the plastic bags are not environmentally friendly and are easily ingested by cows while grazing thus ruining their intestines. “The ban on the use of flat plastic bags is still in effect and anyone found using them will face the full force of the law. The bags are not environmentally friendly and pose a danger to the animals when they ingest them,” she said.
The ban on plastic bags came into effect in Kenya on August 28,2017. However, the bags still find their way into the country as they are smuggled in from Tanzania through the porous border. Anyone found manufacturing, importing, or selling plastic carrier bags is liable to a fine of up to Sh5 million or face a prison sentence of up to four years. Using the banned bags carries a fine of Sh50,000 or a jail term of up to a year.
According to NEMA, plastic bags are highly toxic and cause environmental degradation as they take over 100 years to decompose. Some of the countries in Africa that embraced the ban of plastic bags include Rwanda, Mauritania, Tanzania and Morocco.