KPC acting managing director Flora Okoth. PHOTO | FILE
Residents of Kibwezi East in Makueni have sued the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) and Nema, seeking compensation for an oil spill that contaminated River Thange and its environs in May this year.
The residents in a petition filed at the Milimani High Court accuse KPC and the National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) of negligence, arguing that the institutions ignored calls from villagers reporting burst underground pipes for over five months.
The leak occurred in May, leading to the spillage of more than 400,000 litres of oil products. Residents now claim some of them have suffered from lead poisoning and that they have lost livestock and crops to diseases after the spill.
Alice Muthike Maingi, a resident, says KPC has only given the community one goat, a bull and 50 kilos of sugar for preparing a popular local brew in order to “appease the gods”.
She says KPC acting managing director Flora Okoth has admitted that the State agency was at fault for the spill.
She wants KPC and Nema to compensate residents for livestock lost as a result of the spill. Ms maingi says the oil spill has devalued their land hence they should get reparations for the disaster. The oil spilled into River Thange, the main source of fresh water in the area.
“It took KPC over five months to realise the enormity of the disaster after the residents blocked the Mombasa-Nairobi highway.
Most residents who unwittingly drank the contaminated water from River Thange and ate fruits or vegetables after the spillage now display symptoms of lead poisoning,” lawyer Gichuki Waigwa argues in court papers.
KPC and Nema are yet to respond to the suit. Residents also want KPC compelled to clean up the oil spill and to make public a report compiled by Swiss firm Societe General De Surveillance which the State corporation hired to determine the extent of the damage.
KPC last month dismissed the lead poisoning claims, saying it no longer imports lead-based products. The case will be mentioned on January 27 before Justice Isaac Lenaola.
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