The government plan to build a nuclear power plant in Uyombo, Kilifi county, is a continuation of the marginalisation of the Coast region, veteran rights activists have said.
Led by veteran civil society luminaries Maina Kiai, former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and the Muslims for Human Rights organisation, the activists want the nuclear power plant stopped.
The activists on Monday said it is puzzling why Kenya is pushing for the project yet European countries are uprooting their nuclear plants.
“What we should ask ourselves is this: Why are the Europeans selling us those secondhand stuff?” Mutunga said.
Mutunga added that the government should also have the same zeal to try shut down coal plants in Lamu and in Kitui.
Speaking in Mombasa after a Muhuri board meeting, he said the Chinese, like their European counterparts, are getting rid of their coal plants because they are unsafe.
“That’s a question we should be asking our government. Because it is not safe. We all remember what happened in Ukraine at Chernobyl. The effects of a nuclear plant going rogue means your soils are contaminated and you can’t do farming,” the former Chief Justice said.
On April 26, 1986, a sudden surge of power during a reactor systems test destroyed Unit 4 of the nuclear power station at Chernobyl, Ukraine, in the former Soviet Union.
The accident and the fire that followed released massive amounts of radioactive material into the environment.
Some 31 people died immediately and 600,000 “liquidators,” involved in fire-fighting and cleanup operations, were exposed to high doses of radiation.
Mutunga and Kiai questioned why the government is not doing any proper public participation of the matter.
The residents and environmental activists claim they have been locked out of government-led public participation forums.
The residents, led by Centre for Justice Governance and Environmental Action executive director Phyllis Omido, claim that only a few selected people are chosen to attend the forums in Kilifi and Mombasa.
Walid Kassim, the Muhuri executive director, said the citizens and residents of Uyombo village in Matsangoni ward and the country have spoken with a loud voice.
“We do not want that (plant) within the coastline of Kenya. But the government still insists. We have seen them leading the acquisition of the land and the residents are opposed to that.”
The Muhuri executive said the residents are not interested in compensation and only want a safe environment for their families.
Kassim said Muhuri is in agreement with the people of Uyombo in declining the establishment of the nuclear plant regardless of any international concession.
“We are the voice. The people have the voice. The constitution establishes the power and sovereignty in the people of Kenya.”