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Government cracks down on plastic bag use by Miraa, Muguka traders in Marsabit

Muguka on sale in Eastleigh, Nairobi, in this file picture. (Photo: Abdirahman Khalif/EV)

By Waweru Wairimu | Thursday, June 6, 2024

Anyone found manufacturing, importing, or selling plastic bags is liable to a fine of up to Sh5.2 million or a jail sentence of up to four years.

Marsabit County NEMA Director Naphtali Osoro has declared a coordinated crackdown by the agency, the National Police Service, and the county administration on Muguka and Miraa traders who use single-use carrier bags to build a cleaner and healthier environment.

He said while the government had significantly reduced the use of plastic bags in the county, small traders mostly those in the Muguka and Miraa sales were still using them, contributing to environmental pollution.

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The crackdown will also target smugglers who sneak the bags concealed as other products through Kenya's porous border from neighbouring countries that have not enforced the ban on plastic bags.

"They should stop using the polythene bags or we have them arrested and prosecuted for breaking the law," Osoro said.

Kenya banned the manufacturing, sale, and distribution of single-use carrier bags in 2017 and imposed heavy penalties on those flouting the rules.

Anyone found manufacturing, importing, or selling plastic bags is liable to a fine of up to Sh5.2 million or a jail sentence of up to four years.

Using a plastic bag attracts a fine of Sh65,000 or a sentence of up to one year.

Osoro said NEMA will also sensitise the public on the environmental impacts of plastic bags and the need to embrace alternative packaging materials.

"We will also upscale the enforcement to ensure we achieve 100 per cent compliance with the ban," Osoro noted.

Besides littering up the environment and piling up at local dumpsites, the bags are blown off by strong winds landing in vegetation fed on by the livestock which causes digestive blockage and even death.

The official also lamented that the bags, once disposed of, cause clogging of drainage systems with some ending up in water sources, exposing residents to health risks.

Veterinarians say ingestion of the plastic bags by the animals can be fatal, especially to goats and cattle.

There have been concerns over ineffective enforcement especially within the border.

Several traders appealed to the agency to exercise tolerance during the crackdown and focus mostly on those smuggling the bags.

"NEMA should instead of harassing us stop smuggling to cut off the supply in the market," one of the traders said.