Kenya: Skeletons walk streets to protest coal mining

By Andrew Wasike and Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – As the world marks World Environment Day, hundreds of Kenyans -- some clad in skeleton suits -- on Tuesday took to the streets of the capital Nairobi to protest the establishment of a $1.9 billion coal plant in coastal Kenya.

Demonstrators also protested coal mining in Eastern Kenya.

The protesters wore skeleton suits full with skull masks warning of the environmental and health damage coal mining and production could have on the town of Lamu, near the Indian Ocean.

Protesters held signs with slogans such as “Clean coal is a dirty lie” and “Don’t pollute our air and poison future generations.”

After discovering vast coal reserves, Kenyan officials have set aside 975 acres of land in Lamu to build a coal-fired power plant to inject 1,050 megawatts into the national grid, which is mostly hydroelectric.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, protest organizer Jimmy Eddy said: “We picked this day because it is opportune. We need the world to step in and save our country before we pollute and poison our children. The mining of coal in Kitui and the construction of the coal plant in Lamu should immediately stop.”

He added: “We definitely don’t need coal in our lives as a source of energy, we have oil, we have gas and wind power, we receive abundant rainfall … Coal harms the environment and not just humans, that is why we’re protesting.”

The crowds marched around Nairobi’s Central Business District giving out petitions to government offices, including the office of the president. Some protestors lay in front of a heavy traffic jam, rolling on the ground as if suffering from seizures associated with the use of coal.

Sheikh Hassan Mohammed, a resident of Lamu who travelled to the Nairobi along with 50 other protesters, said: “We appreciate the support of Kenyans to protect our livelihood, our culture, and our future generations. The UN even released a report warning Kenyans that this coal plant will kill us, but the energy ministry still wants to push forward. We won’t give up until the mining and production stops.”

A UN report this April titled “The Impacts on the Community of the Proposed Coal Plant in Lamu: Who, if Anyone, Benefits from Burning Fossil Fuels?” warns: “The proposed coal plant in Lamu not only tells the story of a growing economy turning to an outdated environmentally destructive means of energy production, but also illustrates the plight of indigenous peoples and local communities, and the threat to their land, livelihoods, and culture from unnecessary industrial development.”