By Patricia Mollyne Mataga
Former Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow has renewed calls for the government to order a fresh probe into alleged dumping of toxic waste in the North Eastern region.
Kerrow, in a statement on Sunday, said the latest revelations by former MP Cyrus Jirongo that the government allowed multinationals to dump the waste in the region needed to be investigated by international experts.
Jirongo made the claims in a recent YouTube interview. His revelations come amid concerns over high cancer cases in the region that have for long been suspected to be a result of the waste which was dumped in the 1980s.
The former MP was a close ally of former President the late Daniel Moi at the said time.
“Once again, we call on the Government to order an immediate investigation by international experts. This is essential in in order to locate the sites, determine the nature the hazardous waste, and protect the environment and the residents from further damage,” Kerrow said in part of the statement posted on his verified X handle.
“The Government should hold the companies involved responsible, including officials in Government, and compensate families of all,” he added.
During the interview on later PLO Lumumba’s YouTube channel, Jirongo, a former MP of Lugari and Moi point man claimed the government authorized hazardous toxic waste to be dumped in North Eastern Kenya in the 1980s by Western firms that had been licensed ostensibly to explore for oil.
“This is a serious revelation, coming from a person who had very close links with the Moi Government,” noted the former Senator.
Following high cancer cases and deaths of livestock after drinking water from a well in the Marsabit, KEMRI conducted a study in the area in 2016.
The results however indicated that the cancer cases and deaths of the livestock were due to impurities in the said water. But with the new revelations, the former Senator wants the matter to be revisited.
Dennis Onsarigo, a celebrated investigative journalist also waded into the matter, pointing out that the deaths and cancer cases have been linked to a huge flood from the Kargi desert where suspected nuclear waste was allegedly dumped.