In 2017, Kenya’s Supreme Court ruled that polling‑station results are final and cannot be adjusted later. This landmark decision guided the handling of the 2022 election results and illustrates how instrumental the judiciary can be in establishing binding ground rules for critical national matters. However, the judiciary does not act on its own volition; it delivers rulings only when petition cases are presented before it, and those cases must be watertight. Consequently, ordinary citizens can harness the judiciary’s immense power for the good of the country.
The judiciary’s mammoth power was spotlighted last week during the revolutionary 3rd Regional Symposium on Greening Judiciaries in Africa, held in Nairobi. Set against the backdrop of severe famine in the Horn of Africa, the symposium’s theme—“Strengthening the Role of Judiciaries in Addressing Climate Change in Africa”—was highly relevant. The judiciary is uniquely equipped to tackle climate‑change issues decisively through a variety of interventions highlighted at the event.
First, polluters must be held accountable. A strong precedent was set in Mombasa’s Environment and Lands Court when, in July 2020, Judge Ann Omolo awarded 1.3 billion shillings to over 3,000 residents of Owino Uhuru for deaths, sickness and damages caused by emissions from a lead‑smelting factory. Unfortunately, the affected residents have yet to receive the compensation. This underscores the second intervention emphasized at the symposium: the need for clear guidelines to enforce court orders. To uphold public confidence in the judicial process, orders must be obeyed precisely and promptly by everyone, regardless of status, because justice delayed is justice denied.
Consider the tragic scenario in Marsabit in mid‑January, when heavy rains swept away more than 1,500 sheep and goats, causing massive loss. While the floods were a natural event, their impact could have been mitigated with better flood‑control measures. Under the law, who is responsible for this death and destruction? What legal steps can citizens take to secure compensation, and who should fund the legal process if victims lack resources? Citizens must demand answers, as these issues affect their wellbeing and livelihoods.
Citizens have a societal obligation to engage the judiciary in tackling environmental and social challenges. Active participation will promote replenishment, inclusivity and continuity. It is largely our failure to take social responsibility seriously that leads to environmental depletion rather than renewal. The judiciary can halt this decline, but only if we engage it. Critical environmental rights are violated daily, yet the United Nations affirms that every person has a universal right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment—a right also enshrined in Kenya’s Constitution, Section 42. No Kenyan should settle for less. If your neighbourhood or workplace is not clean, healthy and sustainable, someone is violating your right, and it is your civic duty to stop the violation immediately.
Finally, Kenya’s parliament must act swiftly to develop progressive policies and laws that secure a clean and healthy environment and clearly apportion culpability for preventable climate‑change effects. For example, if early‑warning systems predict rainfall failure, we should not stand idly by as famine wreaks havoc. A new entity to standardize societal obligations should be created and held responsible, with the judiciary affirming citizens’ rights. Tufuate sheria! Think green, act green!
*The author is the Founder and Chairperson of Green Africa Foundation, an organization established in 2000 that champions sustainable development in Africa.*
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