CCK now rules out radiation risk at Court of Appeal
Chief Registrar Gladys Shollei addresses the Press outside the Supreme Court after she was sent on leave on August 19, 2013. She resumed office last week. Photo/FILE
What you need to know:
CCK has reassured Court of Appeal Judges of their safety when they relocate to Elgon House offices.
The judges are resisting being moved to the new offices for fear that communications masts near the building emit radiation that could cause cancer.
CCK says tests carried out so far showed that the radiation levels on all telecommunication masts in the country were within acceptable limits.
The telecommunications regulator has moved to reassure some Court of Appeal Judges of their safety when they relocate to new offices at Upper Hill in Nairobi.
The judges are resisting being moved to the Elgon House offices for fear that communications masts near the building emit radiation that could cause cancer.
“We benchmark our standards on well established institutions and whose recommendations have been adopted by World Health Organisation. So far, we have not established any health concerns as in regards to the strengths of radiation emitted by masts,” said Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) licensing, compliance and standards director Christopher Kemei.
He said tests carried out so far showed that the radiation levels on all telecommunication masts in the country, including the ones the judges had raised concern about, were within acceptable limits.
He said the levels of non ionizing radiation fell within the guidelines by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering IEEE and International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection CNIRP.
CCK says that from its tests the highest radiation level at Elgon House was 0.6W/ms, which is below the set minimum of WHO 4.5W/ms.
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is investigating the circumstances surrounding the Elgon House lease, one of the transactions that had seen the commission send Chief Registrar Gladys Boss Shollei on forced leave last week to facilitate investigations.
She resumed office last week after agreeing with the commission that the differences be resolved internally.
Law Society of Kenya (LSK) chairman Eric Mutua had warned members against carrying out business in the building until the health concerns are cleared.
Mr Mutua said that LSK had retained a University of Nairobi radiology expert to independently assess the suitability of the building.
The Judiciary had obtained a report from CCK that cleared the building as safe for occupation before the Radiation Protection Board expressed its reservations.
Telecommunication firms are also required by law to get approval from Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs), Radiation Protection Board (RPB), National Environmental Management Agency (NEMA), and Ministry of Local Government Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) before erecting their masts.
However, it is not clear under which body the non ionising radiation falls because RPB is only mandated to handle ionizing radiations such as X-ray and nuclear.
Ionising radiation has more health risks compared to non-ionizing radiation which are emitted by gadgets such as refrigerators, personal computers, PC, mobile handsets and the telecommunication masts.
“There is a legal gap that needs to be addressed so as to empower the Radiation Protection Board particularly in matters of non ionizing radiation which most gadgets we interact with daily at home and in offices emit,” Mr Kimei said.
The five government agencies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on dealing with non-ionising radiation under which CCK bought meters to measure the emissions from telecommunication masts.
The Radiation Protection Board was established under the Radiation Protection Act as the national authority responsible for protecting people and the environment from harmful effects of ionizing radiation.
Eight Court of Appeal judges have not relocated to Elgon House and are operating from the Supreme Court building as the new offices are assessed for safety.
The Judiciary was yet to respond to our queries over the matter as we went to press. The Judges were expected to report to the new building on Monday, but none of them did. Other Judiciary staff, including some clerks, are already operating from the building.
Some judges said close proximity to the telecoms equipment could be a source of radioactive emissions and that prolonged and intense exposure could lead to sickness and even death.
The relocation was meant to allow refurbishment of the Supreme Court building pending acquisition of new premises for the Judiciary. The building would have housed the staff for five years.
