The Environment and Land Court in Nairobi has awarded KSh 25.8 million in damages to 1,032 waste pickers working at the Dandora Dumpsite after finding that their constitutional rights were violated due to prolonged exposure to air pollution.
In a judgment delivered on Wednesday at the Milimani Law Courts, Justice Anne Omollo ruled in favour of the waste pickers in a case filed against the Nairobi County Government and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).
The waste pickers instituted a class action suit on September 19, 2023, alleging that unchecked air pollution at the Dandora Dumpsite had exposed them to serious health risks and severely degraded their living and working conditions.
Justice Omollo found that the respondents had breached several fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
The court held that the Nairobi County Government had failed to effectively manage waste and mitigate pollution at the dumpsite, resulting in violations of the petitioners’ rights to a clean and healthy environment, human dignity, the highest attainable standard of health, fair administrative action, and principles of good governance.
As compensation, the court awarded each of the 1,032 waste pickers KSh 25,000, bringing the total damages payable by the Nairobi County Government to KSh 25,800,000.
