Kenyan vendors arrested for using plastic bags

Three street vendors selling their produce on the streets of Nairobi have been arrested by environmental authorities.

The men, who were selling sugar cane, plums and passion fruit, are due to appear in court on Tuesday.

Kenya’s National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) posted a message on Twitter confirming the charges, explaining they had been found in possession of 500 bags.

The East African country was one of the first in the world to totally ban the use of plastic bags and has some of the strictest penalties.

Offenders face fines of up to US$40,000, or a prison sentence if they can’t afford to pay.

People have reacted angrily to the arrest on social media, saying the authorities should not be targeting small street vendors that have little money.

Whilst others pointed to the fact that there are many other forms of plastic still in circulation, calling the crackdown a “class war”.

“Did you know that sausages from farmers choice, pampers, know that Ketepa Tea bags box, beans and other cereals in supermarkets available for middle class are all wrapped in one time use polythene bags”, wrote one user.

Before Kenya’s bag ban passed into law, the UN estimated that 100 million plastic bags were handed out each year.

The government said the excessive use of the bags was polluting the environment, a claim supported by a Nema study that found over half of all cattle near urban areas had plastic bags in their stomachs.

African countries are leading the world in banning plastic bags, with Kenya, Rwanda and Morocco already making the move, followed by Tanzania in 2019.

Photo: NEMA Kenya/Twitter