By Nana Ama Gyapong
Mamo B. Mamo, Director-General of the National Environment Management Authority in Kenya, in an interview on the GTV Breakfast Show revealed that the citizens and government officials had spoken about the ban on plastics decades before it was implemented without any political interference.
Three years ago, Kenya passed the world’s toughest ban on single-use plastic bags, helping to establish the country’s position as a leader in environmental conservation. Most of the time, when people set their minds to implement a certain rule for the benefit of their country, due to political interferences, either it is scrapped by the government that takes over or the attitude of some people makes the whole exercise impossible, but the Director-General of the National Environmental Management Authority explained that if one does not manage the plastics now, in some years to come the population will keep increasing and the issue of plastics cannot be controlled anymore.
In describing how the entire conversation began the Kenyan Environment DG disclosed that the conversation in banning plastics started a decade earlier and has been engaging the population, especially the Manufacturers of the plastics, and the Public including Political Leaders to understand the dangers of using plastics.
He added that they also organized forums, meetings in regional towns and later got support from the citizens who came out very strongly. ”It also didn’t matter which government was in power, provided the country was clean and free from plastics,” he posited.
Kenya, in 2017 grabbed the headlines when it banned single-use plastic bags.
