Manufacturers’ plan to suspend plastic bags ban fails

The High Court has dismissed manufacturers’ lobby application to suspend ban on plastic bags set to take effect on Monday.

In his ruling, High Court Judge Mweresa Eboso said that the petition by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) will injure the public interest which requires state protection.

This comes days after KAM moved to court demanding temporarily orders to stop the ban.

In their petition, KAM argued that the gazette notice issued in March this year on the ban of plastic bags is tantamount to economic sabotage to  Kenyans who have either invested heavily or depend on plastics bags for a living.

KAM further indicated that the ban would lead to the loss of about 60,000 jobs directly, and another 400,000 jobs indirectly.

They further claimed that government had not given out an alternative to plastic bags, adding that the notice is unconstitutional.

Through an affidavit by Association CEO, Phyllis Wakiaga, KAM claimed there are gaps in the adopted regulation and weak enforcement mechanisms in the Gazette notice.

The Ministry of Environment, in its response, however dismissed the application by manufacturers saying there was sufficient public participation before the law was passed.