For the past two years, Kenya has had a law passed in parliament that is supposed to punish those who throw or leave any kind of trash on the beach and those who show up with single-use plastic in marine reserves and conservation areas. The conditional is a must, because the law is hardly enforced by those who should be its guarantors.
The new Minister of Tourism, Peninah Malonza, has returned to the issue in the aftermath of a large and disturbing sea turtle die-off on the coast, particularly between Mombasa and Malindi. Slaughter attributed to pollution and human encroachment on turtle nesting areas.
Malonza, speaking at a marine species conservation initiative in Mombasa, announced that the ban on single-use plastics, as mandated by the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, is to be enforced to the letter on all beaches along the coast, not just in protected reserves.
"Today we imposed a total ban on plastic on our beaches. We will not allow any form of single-use plastic such as straws, bottles and plastic bags at our shows. Our law enforcement and police officers, together with the Ministry of the Interior, will ensure the effectiveness of the ban," the minister said.
While the problem of plastic in the sea and on beaches is now global, Kenya, which for years thanks to citizens' associations (such as PWAM, of which we are one of the founders, which started monthly collections in Malindi and has been happily imitated by many other communities nationwide) has been collecting plastic, glass and other trash from beaches and beyond, continues to see its coastline filled with all kinds of crap that endangers fish and marine species that are threatened with extinction. For example, the minister participated in a public beach cleanup in Mombasa where 349 kilograms of trash was collected in less than an hour.