Nairobi City County and the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) have been ordered to pay over Ksh25 million in damages to waste pickers working at the Dandora dumpsite, after the court found that the two had breached the workers’ rights on air pollution.
In a ruling issued by the Environment and Land Court, the court found that Nairobi County and NEMA had failed to monitor the activities at the 47-hectare parcel of land and to ensure that standards in respect of air quality and emissions are met.
The 1,032 waste pickers had moved to court in 2023, seeking to compel the Nairobi County government and the environment regulator to develop a programme for the permanent rehabilitation and restoration of the dumpsite.
While delivering the ruling, the court stated that the two entities had breached the constitutional rights of the waste pickers, proceeding to award them Ksh25,000 each in damages.
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“The petitioners have proved that the respondents are in breach of their fundamental rights in the bill of rights specifically Articles 10(2)(b), 26(3), 29((f), 42, 43(1)(d), 47, 69 and 232(1)(c) of the constitution,” said the court.
In their petition, the waste pickers had argued that they played a crucial role in the informal solid waste management sector, citing their duties in waste recycling, increasing the capacity of landfills, and reducing water and air pollution from inappropriate disposal of waste.
The workers claimed that the county government and NEMA had failed in their role to ensure that standards of air quality and emissions were met, arguing that they had failed to rehabilitate the dumpsite.
This, they posited, resulted in the workers being exposed to poor working conditions and violating their rights to life, health, food, housing, and adequate standards of living.
In the petition filed on behalf of the waste pickers by five petitioners, they cited studies done in 2011, which demonstrated that the conditions at the dumpsite are inhuman, coupled with toxic chemicals and gases, which were a health hazard. Despite this, the government had all along been reluctant to implement the recommendations made.
They said in the petition that the regulator has failed to rehabilitate the dumpsite and manage waste in a manner that protects human health and the environment, noting that the move was intentional and caused emotional distress, providing reasonable grounds for compensation.
