Kenyans will this Friday know whether they will continue to use plastic bags or not after the high court rules whether the ban will take effect from Monday 28th August 2017.
In a case filed by Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) seeking to suspend the ban, they argue that gazette notice issued in March this year on the ban of plastic bags is tantamount to economic sabotage to millions of Kenyans who have invested heavily and depend on plastics bags for a living.
“The ban will lead to the loss of about 60,000 jobs directly, and another 400,000 indirectly,” KMA argued.
The manufactures’ lawyer Gebran Darr, told the court that all plastic bag manufacturers have been faithfully remitting the Excise duty levies on the understanding that the said amount would be channeled towards augmenting government funds to specifically address plastic waste management as agreed in the Joint Implementation Plan.
KAM argued that there was no public participation and that the said order is not specific adding that the government has not given an alternative usage thereby making the gazette notice unconstitutional.
KMA wants the court to suspend the ban of manufacture and importation of plastic bags used for commercial and household packaging.
In an affidavit by the Association’s CEO Phyllis Wakiaga, KAM claim that there are gaps in the regulatory framework as well as weak enforcement mechanisms in the Gazette notice banning the use of plastic bags.
KAM claims that they had a meeting with the two respondents and they ‘clarified’ that the ban did not affect industrial bags used in packaging manufactured products and exports.
However, lawyer Oscar Eredi representing the government dismissed the allegation by the applicants and submitted that there was public participation.
Eredi submitted that there’s need to have a plastic free environment adding that Public interest outweighs the petitioner’s economic interest
Eredi submitted that there’s need to have a plastic free environment adding that Public interest outweighs the petitioner’s economic interest
