Nema goes after politicians over campaign poster cleanup
People hired by Nairobi Senatorial aspirant Lengewa Silantoi Suzanne take down her campaign posters in Nairobi on August 15, 2017. PHOTO | Emma Nzioka | NMG
Law says all candidates are required to clear their campaign materials from public spaces after elections to prevent environmental pollution.
Nema says some candidates have voluntarily embarked on clearance of the material but that there is more to be done.
Politicians have the option to pay an environment deposit bond to facilitate clearance of the posters.
The National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) will be holding accountable all candidates who have not started clearing their campaign material from public spaces.
According to the Environment Management Coordination (EMCA) Act 2013, all candidates are required to clear their posters after the elections to prevent environmental pollution.
An alternative, however, is for politicians to pay a fee - an environment deposit bond - to facilitate clearance of the posters usually directed to the Nema Environment Restoration Fund account.
According to the environment lobby's compliance and enforcement officer, Mr Zephania Ouma, although some candidates have voluntarily embarked on clearance of posters, there is still much to be done.
“Some of the candidates have already taken up the responsibility of clearing their campaign material from the public spaces and we expect the rest to adhere to the set guidelines,” said Mr Ouma.
Mr Ouma noted that they had scheduled to hold a meeting with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the Council of Governors (CoG) over the matter immediately after the elections but are yet to do so.
“Once the IEBC is done with elections matters we’ll convene a meeting to forge the way forward,” said Mr Ouma.
The deposit bond has also be extended to other areas which include industrial plants and factories which also have an effect on the environment.
