A legal case has been filed at the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) concerning Kenya’s plan to construct a 2,000-5,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in Bondo, located near the eastern shore of Lake Victoria. The project has faced protests from local residents since its announcement.
A 2023 Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) report for Kenya’s nuclear program advised against building a nuclear power plant in the Lake Victoria region due to potential volcanic hazards that could affect nuclear safety. However, the project is proceeding despite this finding.
Dickens Ochieng, a human rights lawyer and resident of Siaya County, filed the case on September 23. The lawsuit seeks to determine the appropriateness of the nuclear plant given the ecological and environmental risks. It also requests a transboundary environmental impact assessment, as Lake Victoria is shared by Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, and supports the livelihoods of approximately 40 million people.
Source: Mongabay