Environmental defender's activism against a lead-smelting factory whose discharge allegedly caused lead poisoning
"On the frontlines of the fight for a healthy planet"
Phyllis Omido had no idea she was an environmental defender when she started asking questions about why people in her community – including her own son – had started getting sick. After taking her son for various tests, which all turned out negative, a workmate suggested she get him tested for lead poisoning. When the tests came back positive, she became aware of the devastating effects of lead in the environment.
She ignored threats to her life and the lives of her loved ones to alert the Kenyan government that a local smelting factory was releasing lead into the local water supply, and blanketing the area in toxic fumes. “I was beaten, arrested, and on a number of occasions jailed when I demanded to have the lead smelter shut down and the owners held accountable. Instead, they accused me of ‘inciting violence,’” said Omido. “I was acquitted, along with some of the community, and we went back to demonstrate because the lead poisoning had increased during that period,” she said. “We still use the river which is polluted with lead, and our children are still falling sick. What else can we do?”
The factory, managed by Metal Refinery EPZ Ltd., was eventually closed in April 2015 following prolonged public outcry. The Centre for Justice, Governance, and Environmental Action, a local non-governmental organization founded by Omido, has since launched litigation against the factory owners on behalf of the residents of Owino Uhuru. The case will be heard at the Environment and Lands Court in Mombasa in October 2017. The victims want to be compensated for medical complications and deaths that they say arose from the lead contamination.