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Article

22 Jan 2020

Author:
Victor Raballa, Daily Nation (Kenya)

Kenya: Govt. official threatens to close Kibos Sugar for allegedly exposing children with special needs to environmental hazards

"Magoha threatens to shut down Kibos Sugar Company"

ducation Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has threatened to shut down Kibos Sugar Company should the management fail to relocate the neighbouring Kibos Special School to another location within Kisumu town. The Education CS said children with special needs continue to suffer due to environmental hazards they are exposed to by the factory located barely 20 metres from the school. According to locals and environmentalists, the company emits polluted substances into the air which have adverse effects on pupils living with albinism.

The operations of the sugar factory are said to be posing a big threat to the only learning centre for the blind and children with albinism in western Kenya...Prof Magoha said there is urgent need for his ministry, County Government of Kisumu and area MPs to finding a lasting solution. “You cannot relocate the school into the bush. I will order Kibos Sugar Company to shut down if they cannot build a school for the children with special needs within town,” said Prof Magoha.

The National Assembly Education Committee has been on a fact-finding mission at the Kisumu-based company where the members met various stakeholders but is yet to release a final report on their findings and recommendations. Nominated MP David ole Sankok took up the matter after a public petition by, among others, Kondele Community Social Justice Centre member Boniface Akach who accused the miller of failing to comply with environmental regulations.