Kivutha Kibwana to Sue Govt at The Hague

• Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana is contemplating taking the government and Kenya Pipeline Corporation to the International Court of Justice at The Hague over oil spillage in the county.
  Speaking to citizens at Kiboko town in Kibwezi west sub-county, the governor revealed that the oil spillage had gone on for more than one and a half years.
  He further revealed that it was affecting the lives of the Makueni people since it infects the water resources and that the national government continuously lay the blame to the county.
  "Usifanye shida alafu unaambia county government iwe responsible. Juzi imesemekana hata huko Thange hatukuambiwa hiyo mafuta ilikuwa Kiasi gani. (Don't cause trouble and then tell the county that it is responsible. Recently in Thange, we were not told the amount of the oil that spilled.)
  "I think sometimes tunadharauliwa na ile serikali kubwa especially (we are despised by the national government) through these parastatals. Hii ni kitu hata tunakusanyika tunasema tunaipeleka korti ya ulaya, (We have come together and we shall take this to the international court) because we don't get solutions in Kenyan courts," he told the congregation.
  

  

  Kivutha Kibwana addressing Makueni residents at Emali Town in 2018

  The seemingly agitated governor further revealed that the spillage contaminates water that is likely to cause cancer to humans and when they pass on, their death is blamed on other factors such as diseases or witchcraft.
  "It has been a problem for one and a half years. Watu wanaanza kufa alafu tukiwazika tunasema ni ukimwi kumbe si ukimwi, ni oil. Na unapata cancer baadaye unakufa na wengine wanasema ni uchawi," he continued.
  (People die and we blame it on diseases like HIV when its oil spillage instead. When you get cancer and die, people blame it on witchcraft)
  He further asked the government to step up and compensate the residents for all the time the oil spillage affected their produce or made them shun from agriculture altogether.
  Speaking exclusively to Kenyans.co.ke, a communication officer from Makueni County insinuated that workers may have been selling gallons of oil illegally and initiating leakages in the county to claim that it went to waste.
  

  

  People attending at the International Court of Justice.

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