Center for litigation on Environment and Governance (CLEG) | Projects | Successful investigation and filing of Mwakirunge dumpsite

Center for Litigation on Environment and Governance (CLEG) was officially and legally registered with NGO coordination Board of Kenya as Non-Governmental Organization in January 2023. This is after several years of individual initiative, personal sacrifice and risks including investigations into Environmental human rights violations in the Coastal Kenya by Ainea Ragen, the Executive Director of CLEG.

Address

Mwatamba, Kadzandani, Mombasa-Kenya

Email

info@clegkenya.org

Phone

+254 739 797 025

Successful investigation and filing of Mwakirunge dumpsite matter at Environment and Land court at Mombasa Ref. ELC PET E017 OF 2022

Mwakirunge Dumping site which has been illegally operational since 2007, has brought serious negative environmental and social impact. Many residents of Mwakirunge have contracted serious life threatening diseases, some have died, four of them were run over by trucks dumping garbage on the site and families were forcefully evicted from Mwakirunge land where the dumpsite is located. Sixteen graves are covered in garbage.

Toxic chemicals are emitted from the continuous burning of garbage on the site. A laboratory test carried out by one of the licensed laboratories in Kenya revealed dangerous levels of toxic emissions beyond the recommended level. This is a matter that was investigated by the Executive director of Center for Litigation on Environment and Governance (CLEG), Ainea Ragen and a petition filed at Mombasa Environment and Land Court ref. ELC PET E017 OF 2022.

An environmental research and audit was also carried out by Professor Benards Okeyo, an environmental expert and a senior lecturer at Pwani University. The research titled; Mwakirunge Dumpsite: A simmering Disaster. Mwakirunge community residents have been of great help in giving crucial information and data that helped gather evidence against County government of Mombasa and National Environment Management Authority (NEMA). A site visit to the dumpsite was conducted on 30th September 2022 by the judge handling the case.

Another case is where a politician colluded with corrupt staff at Lands office in Mombasa, alienated a Swamp and was issued with a fake title deed. After two months the politician sold the swamp to two foreign nationals of Pakistani Origin running a property management company in Mombasa for Eleven Million Kenya shillings (Ksh. 11,000,000). The two Pakistani nationals later sold the swamp for Seventy five Million Kenya shillings (Ksh. 75,000,000) to a Mombasa based tycoon who runs a logistics and transport business. The tycoon built a 4 meter perimeter wall around the swamp, filled the swamp with stones, gravel and blocks to make a parking yard for hundreds of his company trucks.

The communities on Mwembelegeza, Kadzandani, Nyali, Bombolulu and Kisauni who were protected from floods have been suffering from flooding since this swamp was taken by the developer and a wall erected around it. In late 2021, after a two year investigation, Ainea Ragen, the Executive director of CLEG filed a petition at the Environment and Land court at Mombasa to recover this swamp pursuant to various constitutional provisions, Water Act, Environmental Management and Coordination Act Act, water resource management rules, county Government Act, National Land commission Act, National Construction Authority Act among others.

The case has progressed well and the developer filed a cross-petition suing all the entities that approved every single transaction he made demanding he be paid damages amounting to Kenya shillings three hundred and thirty Million (Ksh. 330,000,000). In his suit he said he didn’t know the swamp is public land. A site visit by the judge handling the case is scheduled for 10th February 2023 and then a full hearing on 13th April 2023.