Mwingi, Kitui County – In a landmark legal battle, 158 farmers from the Mwingi area have filed a lawsuit against Environment Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale and several government agencies, accusing them of neglecting their duties to stop illegal sand harvesting that is wreaking havoc on local ecosystems. This urgent case was submitted to the Environment and Lands Court in Kitui and has already been granted swift attention, with an inter partes hearing scheduled for next week.
The farmers have named a total of 11 parties in the lawsuit, including the Kitui County government, the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA), the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), the Kitui County Police Commander, and the County Commissioner. The residents argue that these entities have failed to enforce existing laws designed to protect their rivers, which serve as essential sources of livelihood for the community.
According to the petition, the uncontrolled harvesting of sand from seasonal rivers has led to catastrophic environmental consequences, such as lowered water tables, drying aquifers, and significant water and air pollution. The farmers highlight that their irrigation practices along the Enziu, Mwania, and Mui rivers have been severely disrupted due to diminishing water levels, directly threatening their food security and economic stability.
In their submission, the petitioners have provided evidence in the form of photographs of 58 trucks engaged in extraction activities within their villages. They are seeking a permanent court injunction that would prohibit these parties from any further sand harvesting operations.
Key highlights of the lawsuit include claims that the Kitui County government is exhibiting double standards by both enacting laws that ban sand harvesting and concurrently collecting revenue from sand transporters at a cess point established along the Thika-Garissa highway.
Moreover, the residents have accused KeNHA of failing to regulate overloaded trucks that transport sand to Nairobi, thereby exacerbating the environmental degradation. They demand that KeNHA produce comprehensive data on all vehicles registered at the Yatta weighbridge in the past year, asserting that this information will underscore the extensive illegal sand harvesting operations in their area.
The National Environment Management Authority has also come under fire for not enforcing critical regulations requiring Environmental Impact Assessments before any sand mining activities can commence.
As this case unfolds, it poses significant implications not only for local communities in Mwingi but also for broader environmental oversight in Kenya. Legal experts, including Eric Mutua, the former Chairperson of the Law Society of Kenya representing the petitioners, have emphasized the need for stringent enforcement of environmental laws to safeguard vulnerable ecosystems and local livelihoods.
