Poisoning the poor

Toxic fumes from a public service vehicle

You are impatiently standing on a queue waiting to board a matatu to get home. The line winds endlessly and you wonder when a minibus will come around. After what seems like an eternity, a matatu finally comes to a halt and the queue moves albeit slowly. The matatu is belching out black smoke but no one seems to be bothered, by now you are used to the fumes, you turn your face to the side but keep it moving. On your way home, there is traffic that seems to stretch on to Timbuktu, and the same case is witnessed, vehicles emitting all manner of exhaust fumes, black, white, heck even brown sometimes. You don't have much option but to breath in the pollutant infested air. Finally, you get to the last bus stop before you get home, you breath in a sigh of relief, but what gets into your lungs is not clean air, no, its dust filled air, burdening even further your respiratory system.

Such is the predicament many urban dwellers find themselves in, not only in Nairobi but all across cities in Africa. According to Marie Thynell, an urban researcher at Sweden's Gothenberg University who led a study of Nairobi's pollution in 2015, the amount of cancer causing elements in the air within the city is 10 times higher than the threshold recommended by the World Health Organization. The urban health crisis could kill an estimated 1.5 million people within a generation it is estimated.

But it is not only the air in our cities that is poisonous, our rivers are also a hot bed of toxins. A leading national daily recently highlighted the dangers posed by industries pouring effluent into the Nairobi River and effectively killing life downstream at the Athi river. In 2014, a smelting plant, Metal Refinery EPZ ltd, was closed after 5 people died from lead poisoning. The factory spewed waste into streams affecting close to 3,000 residents of Owino Uhuru slums in Jomvu, Mombasa. And till this day effects such as chest pains, anemia, skin rashes and impotence are experienced by the residents who either worked or bordered the factory. What is even more saddening is the court case for the compensation of the victims has been dragging ever since yet the victims continue to languish in misery.

Pollution is deeply linked to poverty. For instance Kenya imports mainly second hand vehicles which contribute highly to emissions. There is also much use of kerosene in homes which effectively leads to pollution even within households, many of whom are concentrated in slums and other low income areas. 

Policies should be enacted that will see the country turn into green sources of energy to ensure zero emission. Mass public transit systems should be adopted to reduce the pollution o the roads from un-roadworthy vehicles and rivers should be protected from effluent. Our future depends on it.

Love is in the air, but the air is highly polluted