Two
businessmen have moved to court challenging the legal notice that banned the
manufacture and importation of plastic bags.
Fredrick
Njenga and Stephen Mwangi, who are plastic bag importers, say that the Legal
Notice No. 2356 of 2017 on the ban did not comply with Statutory Instruments
Act, 2013.
The
two, in their application at the High Court, further claim that they stand to suffer
great economic loss.
In
March, Environment CS Judi Wakhungu said plastic bags will no longer be in use
from September.
These
are carrier bags constructed with handles and with or without gussets, or flat
bags without handles and with or without gussets.
"The
ministry has banned the use, manufacture, and importation of all plastic bags
used for commercial and household packaging," Wakhungu said in a February
27 gazette notice.
Last
year, a bill sponsored by Umoja MCA Njoroge Maina aimed at encouraging the
re-use of paper bags or the use of alternatives to reduce plastic waste
generation.
The
bill tabled in Nairobi proposed fines for shoppers found carrying polythene
bags in the city.
This
meant that supermarket outlets would not be allowed to use the bags to package
goods for customers
