The Torture Act of Kenya strangles environmentalism

There are many articles calling Kenya's Prevention of Torture Act, 2017 a milestone for Kenya. There are millions of Kenyans who think that the Standard Gauge Railway is a milestone for Kenya - so important that the President has said anyone who vandalizes it will be hanged. Few people know that the Torture Act and the SGR are connected in a dark and sinister way that's got nothing to do with torture - unless the authors of this is atrocity is trying to argue that conservationists are now torturers of the Kenya Government.

The Prevention of Torture Act aims to give effect to Articles of the Constitution which prohibit torture. A new amendment to the act which was passed quietly in parliament and approved by the President, contains a sneaky clause that has nothing to do with torture.

Legislators used an opportunity to amend the Prevention of Torture act to makes an amendment to the totally unrelated Environmental Management & Coordination Act. Now, according to this new law, appeals made against the National Environmental Tribunal (NET) must be accompanied by separate applications for a stop order to maintain the status quo of the subject of the appeal until the matter is determined.

Previously the NET could stop actions on major projects if they violated environmental laws.

This new Act further provides that any previous STOP ORDERS will stand quashed unless the affected party has made a fresh application before the Tribunal to issue fresh orders. Therefore any existing STOP ORDERS against the Kenya Railway constructing through the Nairobi National Park. 

The consequence is that STOP ORDERS issues by NEMA against the SGR Phase 2A and construction of the 1050MW Lamu Coal Plant stand voided and unless interested parties apply afresh for STOP ORDERS the constructions will continue.

My prediction is that unless lawyers fight this, the clause will stick and the SGR, oil pipelines and other major developments will wreck havoc across our parks, forests, schools and any other piece of public land that was originally reserved for its scenic and natural beauty. Kenya stands at a cross roads - we all want development and economic prosperity but at what cost? The muzzling of environmental concerns is not a sign of a modern developing democratic nation. It reeks of the kind of approach we thought we had escaped when we achieved independence. Its no surprise that the environment did not feature in Madaraka day celebrations. Madaraka day is a celebration of the day Kenya achieved self-rule in 1963. How sad that so many heroes died in the fight for independence, only to come to this.

One of our past presidents whose actions threatened forests and public lands was reigned in by the indefatigable Wangari Maathai who won a Nobel Prize for her efforts. Kenyans applaud her and name buildings and parks after her. But where are these champions of the environment now?