Kitui traders and urban dwellers who flout environmental laws will be prosecuted, Governor Charity Ngilu has warned.
Ngilu said residents must avoid littering and activities that pollute the environment.
“All persons should know that Kitui town has graduated to a municipality. There will be no compromise in keeping the town clean,” Ngilu said.
She said there are laws that prohibit the indiscriminate garbage disposal within Kitui town.
“We need to live in a clean environment because 80 per cent of the diseases we are dealing with are as a result of a dirty environment,” she said.
Ngilu spoke to journalists on Tuesday evening at Kitui police station when she went to negotiate the release of two people arrested for environmental offences.
Nzomo Mbingu a trader and a caretaker of the Inter-County Hotel were arrested for allegedly pouring effluent into the environment.
They were arrested when a team of Nema officials from Nairobi raided a number of business premises to establish compliance with environmental laws.
They were released on police bond and asked to comply with the regulations with 114 days.
The Nema team included the deputy director for legal affairs Linda Kosgei and Charles Lange of the environmental research department.
Business was briefly disrupted at Kalundu market on Wednesday as the team impounded banned plastic bags from shops and owners fled to escape arrest.
The governor reiterated the countrywide ban on plastic bags saying those found with them risked jail terms or huge fines.
She called on the residents to seek to be on the safe side by operating within the law.
