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Kenya bans polythene bags
The boldest government statement on polythene bags came from Kenya, East Africa’s manufacturing hub, when Cabinet Secretary for Environment and National Resources, Prof. Judi Wakhungu, announced on March 14 that it would become the second country in Africa to ban polythene carrier bags.
This is the third time since 2007 the Kenyan government is trying to outlaw polythene bags use in the country. Still, the Kenyan manufacturing community was unhappy with the minister’s gazette notice dated February 28, 2017.
The Kenya Association of Manufacturers insists the government’s directive to ban plastic bags beginning in September will end the operations of more than 170 companies and 60,000 people will be put out of work. It is not yet clear how the Kenyan government will respond to the manufacturers’ objection.
Last year, Tanzanian MPs advised the government to postpone a similar ban to a later date as government officials and the private sector continue to work out the details before President Magufuli signs it.
Strong manufacturers’ lobby
In the week Hajabakiga’s bill was shelved, East African manufacturers went to Kigali to “interact” with the EALA representatives.
At a dinner hosted by the East African Business Council (EABC), the regional manufacturers including; members of the Uganda Manufacturers Association and the Uganda Plastics Manufacturers and Recyclers Association (UPMRA), told the EALA MPs that more consultations were required.
The manufacturers across the region are not happy with the provision that asks them to comply within 12 months or risk closure if they fail to set up recycling units at their premises and prove by documented records that they recollect as well as buy back plastic waste from the communities.
The manufacturers say a ban to address one aspect of environmental waste (polythene) does not resolve the identified problem of inadequate waste management in the region.
They also argue that the bill in its current state does not consider the current level of import and export that the sector generates to the partner states’ respective national treasuries, which according to them is about $250m worth of exports to the EAC neighbours like Sudan, DR Congo, Ethiopia and Central African Republic.
The Kenya Association of Manufacturers estimates more than 170 plastic manufacturing industries operating in Kenya and these employ over 60,000 people with annual sales estimated to be in the region of $400m.
In Tanzania, there are close to 60 plastics factories which employ at least 20,000 people. In Uganda, a senior official in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives who has been researching on the issue of polythene bags says there are close to 45 plastics factories worth about $150m in the country.
So will the current consultations be enough to finally pass Hajabakiga’s bill within two months?
Dr. Frederick Golooba Mutebi, a regional researcher and analyst says with the exception of Rwanda whose private sector appears relatively smaller and younger; in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, it is quite formidable.
Golooba says the polythene bag industry is very big in Kenya, while in Tanzania and Uganda, although there are fewer industries, there is a very strong lobby of importers and traders who are politically significant players.
“For all these reasons, EALA will not just pass the bill before listening to the various interests because there is a lot at stake in these countries.
“The strength of the lobby of the manufacturers, the lobby of the private sector is important but also it is just down to the sloppiness of the governments which pass laws they don’t intend to enforce.”
Weak institutions
Frank Muramuzi, the executive director of the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), a Kampala-based environmental non-profit told The Independent recently that the polythene bags debate has dragged on in the region mainly because of the weak implementing institutions in the individual countries.
“I don’t think Ugandans are poorer and less educated than the Rwandans. I don’t think Rwanda’s economy is weaker because they banned kaveera; I don’t think Rwandans no longer go to supermarkets and I don’t think investors shun Rwanda because they banned polythene bags,” Muramuzi said.
But Dr. Fred Muhumuza, a development economist told The Independent recently if polythene bags cannot be banned at country level, he does not think it will be done at regional level.
Muhumuza says environmental lobbyists are better off lobbying individual countries because the people failing the polythene bags ban are local and EALA will not resolve that.
“Rwanda did not require EALA legislation to implement the polythene bags ban; it only took the government’s commitment,” Muhumuza said.
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editor@independent.co.ug
