When, in 2009, Ms Omido explained to her employer that their business of battery recycling could “end up killing” the people living near the plant, she was asked never to talk about it again.
This was the first of many times she was told to be quiet, but she did not do as she was told.
At 31, the business management graduate had just joined Kenya Metal Refineries, a firm in the coastal city of Mombasa which was recycling car batteries to extract the lead.
Toxic fumes
She had been asked to commission an environmental impact assessment, but when she presented the expert’s report the company directors did not act on its findings.
The battery melting process emitted both toxic fumes and a discharge that seeped into the neighbouring densely populated Owino Uhuru community. It affected both the air and the water, causing illnesses the residents could not understand.
It also had an impact on the employees. Read more…
