This archive report was first published on 1 November 2019.
On October 4, 2019, the Kisumu County Assembly dealt a fresh blow to Kibos Sugar factory after rejecting a report it was seeking to rely on to build a court case. The miller had been saved from closure by the Court of Appeal and the document was part of the evidence its lawyers were allowed to introduce.
The High Court had previously failed to consider the environmental report, which gave the miller a clean bill of health. However, according to fresh documents filed by the county assembly, there is no evidence the matter was ever discussed on the floor of the House.
Assembly Clerk Owen Ojuok stated that all proceedings are captured in the Hansard, the official report of debates in the chamber. He added, 'The assembly confirms that it has no Hansard record of the contents of the Water, Environment and Natural Resources Committee report on pollution of rivers Kibos, Auji and Lie-Lango by Kibos Sugar Allied Industries Ltd.'
Committee vice chair Erick Ogola denied knowledge of the report and claimed their signatures were obtained fraudulently. In an affidavit, he stated, 'The committee has never undertaken any fact-finding mission to investigate and to make an inquiry into the cause of the uncontrolled and continuous pollution of rivers.'
It is worth noting that in July 2019, the environment court ordered Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries Ltd, Kibos Power Ltd, and Kibos Distillers Ltd to halt operations over claims of pollution. The court had also found that the miller and two of its subsidiaries had obtained their licences illegally.
The court will deliver its verdict on December 19, 2019.
