Phyllis Omido

With encouragement from a local pastor, Omido reached out to community members about what they had seen and experienced: chickens (often kept in backyards) died after drinking the water trickling out from the smelter. Children developed high fevers and complained of stomach aches. Women suffered miscarriages and stillbirths. Omido urged residents to consider lead poisoning as a possibility, often accompanying illiterate parents on hospital visits to help them explain the situation to doctors.

She founded the Center for Justice, Governance, and Environmental Action (CJGEA) and convinced the government health center to test local community members for lead. All three of the first children tested had lead poisoning. In fact, lead levels were so high with one child that the doctors retested the boy. The result was the same: 37 micrograms per deciliter of blood, almost 20 times the median blood lead level among children in the US. Local soil tests showed lead levels increased almost tenfold from 2008 to 2009, when the plant became operational.

Equipped with hard data, Omido went back to the plant’s management and the National Environment Management Authority to shut down the smelter. Her plea fell on deaf ears, and she ramped up pressure with letter-writing campaigns and peaceful street protests. In the face of mounting community pressure and tireless campaigning by Omido and CJGEA, the smelter ceased operations in January 2014.

Omido paid a personal price for this work. During a protest in April 2012, as she began assembling factory workers and residents, police arrested her and charged her with holding an illegal gathering and inciting violence. Her time in jail, along with a brutal attack by two armed men on her way home one night, left her with a deep fear for her safety and that of her son.

Since the plant’s closure, members of Kenya’s senate health committee have toured the former smelter site. Appalled at what they saw, they pledged to provide testing for all community members and clean up the contamination. Omido is now working to hold them to that commitment, building a court case based on Kenya’s constitutional mandate to provide a clean and safe environment for its citizens.

Baada ya kugundua vile maziwa yake mwenyewe yalikuwa yanamfanya mtoto wake kuwa mgonjwa-na kutambua mtoto wake hakuwa tu aliyekuwa akisumbuliwa na sumu ya risasi—Phyllis Omido alikusanya jumuia mjini Mombasa ili kufunga kiwanda cha kuyeyusha madini ambayo ilikuwa ikiwafichua watu kwa kemikali hatari.

Kunawiri kwa kiwanda cha nishati ya jua nchini Kenya imeongeza mahitaji ya risasi, inayoletwa kwa kutumia upya betri ya gari katika viwanda vya kuyeyusha madini. Miji ya manyumba duni mjini Mombasa, ambapo wafanyikazi maskini, wana tamaa ya kufanyakazi, ni maeneo makuu kwa shughuli hiyo ya viwanda. Miongoni mwao ni Owino Uhuru, ambapo kiwanda cha kuyeyusha madini hutoa mvuke nzito iliyo na risasi, mara nyingi wakati wa usiku ili kuepuka kugunduliwa, na kutoa maji taka yasiyotibiwa kumwagwa katika mito ambayo wakazi hutumia kufua, kupika na kusafishia.

Wafanyakazi katika kiwanda wanakabiliwa na mfjchuo moja kwa moja ya kemikali. Walikuwa wamepewa jozi moja ya glavu ya pamba wasiwasi ya kinga kwa mwezi, ambayo iliharibika haraka baada ya siku chache. Mara baada ya glavu kuharibika, wafanyakazi waliendelea na kazi kwa mikono tupu. Kwa upande mwingine, mameneja walioingia kwa kiwanda walifanya hivyo wakiwa wamevaa nguo kamili ya kinga.

Phyllis Omido alikuwa mama kijana mwenye hajaolewa aliyekuwa na mtoto mvulana wakati alipoajiriwa kusimamia mahusiano ya kiwanda cha jumuia. Moja ya kazi yake ya kwanza ilikuwa ni kuandika ripoti ya athari kwa mazingira. Wakifanya kazi na timu ya wataalam, aligundua kwamba ukaribu wa kiwanda kwa jumuia iliwafanya wakazi kuwa katika hatari ya kemikali-na kwamba kiwanda hicho kuwa uwezekano ilikuwa inaendesha shughuli zake chini ya vibali vilivyotolewa kinyume na sheria. Ripoti yake ilipendekeza kiwanda kifungwe na kuhamishwa, lakini usimamizi walitupilia mbali mapendekezo yake na kumwondoa Omido katika mradi huo.

Karibu miezi mitatu katika kazi yake, mtoto mchanga wa Omido akawa mgonjwa mahututi na akalazwa hospitalini. Vipimo vya malaria, homa ya matumbo, na uwezekano wa magonjwa mengine zote hazikuwa. Kufuatia pendekezo kutoka kwa meneja wa kiwanda kwamba inaweza kuwa sumu ya risasi, madaktari walipima damu ya mtoto na kugundua kwamba alikuwa na viwango vya juu vya risasi, ambayo kulikuwa na uwezekano ilipitishwa kupitia maziwa ya matiti ya mama yake.

Bili ya matibabu ya mtoto wake iliongezeka haraka kwa zaidi ya $ 2,000, kiasi ghali mno kwa Omido. Omido alidai kwamba kiwanda ilipe gharama ya hospitali. Kampuni ililipa bili yake badala ya ukimya wake, lakini Omido alihisi wajibu kwa jamii. Aliacha kazi yake na kuanza kusafisha nyumba ili kujikimu na kusaidia jitihada yake ya kuleta haki kwa wafanyakazi na familia wanaoathiriwa na kiwanda cha kuyeyusha madini.

Pamoja na kuhimizwa na mchungaji wa eneo hilo, Omido alifikia wanajamii kuhusu mambo waliyoyaona na kupitia: kuku (mara nyingi waliowekwa nyuma ya nyumba) walikufa baada ya kunywa maji yanayotiririka kutoka kwa smelter. Watoto walikuwa na homa ya juu na walilalamika kuumwa na tumbo. Wanawake waliharibikiwa na mimba na uzazimfu. Omido aliwasihi wakazi kufikiria sumu ya risasi kama uwezekano, mara nyingi kuandamana na wazazi wasiojua kusoma na kuandika kwa ziara za hospitali ili kuwasaidia kuelezea hali hiyo kwa madaktari.

Alianzisha Kituo cha Haki na Utawala na Hatua ya Mazingira (CJGEA) na kushawishi kituo cha serikali cha afya kuwapima wanajamii risasi. Watoto wote watatu walikuwa na sumu ya risasi. Kwa kweli, viwango vya risasi vilikuwa juu mno ambapo mvulana mmoja alipimwa upya na madaktari. Matokeo yalikuwa sawa: mikrogramu 37 kwa kila desilita ya damu, karibu mara 20 ya wastani ya kiwango cha damu miongoni mwa watoto katika Marekani. Vipimo vya udongo wa eneo hili ilionyesha ongezeko la kiwango karibu mara kumi kutoka mwaka 2008 mpaka 2009, wakati kiwanda kilipoanza operesheni zake.

Akiwa na dhibitisho la data, Omido alirejea kwa usimamizi wa kiwanda na Shirika la Kitaifa la Usimamizi wa Mazingira (NEMA) kufunga kiwanda hicho cha kuyeyusha madini. Ombi lake lilipuuzwa na akaishinikiza kwa kampeni ya kuandika barua na maandamano ya amani barabarani. Katika hali ya Omido na CJGEA kushinika na kufanya kampeni bila kuchoka, operesheni za kiwanda cha kuyeyusha madini zilisimamishwa mwezi Januari 2014.

Omido alilipa bei binafsi kwa kazi hii. Wakati wa maandamano mwezi Aprili 2012, wakati alianza kuwakusanyika wafanyakazi wa kiwanda na wakazi, polisi walimtia Omido mbaroni na kushtaki kwa kufanya mkutano kinyume na sheria na kuchochea vurugu. Muda wake jela, pamoja na mashambulizi ya kikatili na watu wawili wenye silaha alipokuwa akielekea nyumbani usiku moja, ilimwacha na hofu kubwa ya usalama wake na ile ya mtoto wake.

Tangu kufungwa kwa kiwanda, wanachama wa kamati ya seneti ya afya nchini Kenya walizuru eneo la zamani la smelter. Walishangazwa na kile walichokiona, waliahidi kutoa upimaji kwa wanajamii wote na kusafisha uchafu. Omido sasa anafanya kazi ya kuwafuatilia ili kutimiza ahadi hio, kuunda kesi mahakamani kulingana na mamlaka ya kikatiba nchini Kenya ya kutoa mazingira safi na salama kwa wananchi wake.

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Phyllis Omido, 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize winner for Africa, galvanized the community in Mombasa to shut down a smelter that was causing lead poisoning among its workers and local residents. (Photo: Goldman Environmental Prize)

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