Homa Bay County sued over climate action funds

Homa Bay may become the first county to be blacklisted as a beneficiary of Financing Locally Led Climate Action (FLLoCA) programme.
 
This is after an activist moved to court to challenge how funds under the climate support programme were used in the last financial year.

 FLLoCA is a government initiative co-funded by the World Bank and other bilateral partners, including the governments of Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands and Germany.

 The five-year programme is being implemented by the National Treasury in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, the Council of Governors, county governments and other line ministries.

 Its main goal is to deliver locally-led climate resilient actions and strengthen county and national government’s capacity to manage climate risks. 

The programme focuses on capacity building and implementation of local community resilient climate actions.

 Each devolved unit gets funds to undertake different projects meant to address the effects of climate change.

 Homa Bay County got Sh358 million in the last financial year, according to FLLoCA annual performance assessment appeals report. But an activist has sued the county government for allegedly failing to obey the law when using the money for various projects meant to mitigate the effects of climate change.

 Mr Evance Oloo, through Onyango Otunga and Company Advocates, moved to the Environment and Lands Court seeking to bar the county government from benefiting from subsequent disbursement of the funds.

He listed the county government, Water, Environment and Climate change executive, Environment Cabinet secretary, Treasury Cabinet secretary, National Environment Management Authority (Nema) and Water Resources Authority (WRA) as first, second, third, fourth, fifth and six respondents, respectively.

Environment and Land Court Judge George Ongondo directed that the application be served to the respondents, who are later supposed to file and serve response(s) to the application.

In an earlier interview, Homa Bay County Climate Change Director Roy Odongo said the county government undertook water projects in all 40 wards as part of its strategy to mitigate the effects of climate change. They included sinking of boreholes as well as roof catchment to provide water to residents.unds from FLLoCA were also used to support groups undertaking tree seedling production, he noted. Mr Odongo said this was meant to support reforestation as the county will have a steady supply of seedlings to plant in different areas.

Shortcuts

But the regional government is accused of using shortcuts to implement the projects.

Mr Oloo, in his petition, told the court that the county government did not undertake a public participation exercise prior to rolling out the said projects. He further informed the court that the devolved government did not undertake environmental impact assessment or obtain necessary licences before starting the projects.

“As confirmed by letters from the fifth respondent (Nema), the first respondent (county government) did not undertake environmental impact assessment or obtain necessary licences before starting the said projects. The fifth respondent has further confirmed that the first respondent did not present critical documents such as hydrogeological survey reports, water resource abstraction permits, land ownership documents and easement documents,” read part of the petition.

It continued: “As such, the projects, which the first respondents are undertaking, are posing environmental hazards. Further, as confirmed by the sixth respondent (WRA), the first respondent did not pay the requisite fee. Instead, the first respondent presented forged and fraudulent receipts totaling to Sh1.485 million.”

The letters referred in the petition are from Nema County Director Josiah Nyandoro, who on June 11 wrote to County Water, Environment and Climate Change Executive Joash Aloo raising concern about implementation of FLLoCA projects without following environmental laws.

“Your department is implementing FLLoCA projects within the 40 wards of Homa Bay. As provided in the Environmental Management and Coordination Act Cap 387, no project is devoid of impacts to the environment and thus a mandatory requirement for an Environmental Impact Assessment licence for each of the projects,” the environmental officer wrote in his letter.

According to Nema, other projects submitted had glaring anomalies, including absence of hydrogeological survey reports, Water Resource Abstraction permits from Water Resource Authority, among others.

The environmental watchdog accused the devolved unit of violating the legal requirements under Environmental Management and Coordination Act 1999 and Environmental Impact Assessment and Audit regulations 2003.

Mr Nyandoro wrote that whoever contravenes any provisions of the law commits an offence and is liable upon conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 24 months, or a fine of not more than Sh2 million, or both.

A concern was also raised that some boreholes will only benefit individuals rather than the larger public.The activist also claimed that the county government is yet to comply with the requirements of the national Climate Change Act of 2016 and the Homa Bay Climate Change Act of 2022.

“The first respondent has not constituted critical bodies, including the Steering Committee, the Technical Committee, and the Wards committees to oversee climate change programmes in the county,” he wrote in the petition.

Both parties are expected to argue their case in court, and the outcome will determine whether Homa Bay gets the next allocation of FLLoCA funds. The case will be mentioned on December 16.

To be eligible for FLLoCA funding, counties are required to put in place county climate finance institutions such as County Climate Change Fund and County Climate Change Unit, carry out a participatory climate risk assessment and develop action planning at the ward level.

Another important condition is for counties to devote a minimum of 1.5 per cent of their development funds towards the County Climate Change Fund.

The National Treasury had engaged the Office of the Auditor General in April to carry out the Annual Performance Assessment (APA) for FLLoCA and award scores to each county on how the funds were used.

According to FLLoCA Annual Performance Assessment Appeals Report, 21 counties appealed the scores awarded to them.

The appeals were internally reviewed and forwarded to the Office of the Auditor General for further analysis and evaluation.The report stated that 45 counties will share Sh7 billion based on their performance score as per the just concluded APA.

Environmental experts warn that climate crisis is a global threat that, if not addressed, can lead to devastating effects on the lives of humans especially in Africa, where the effects of climate change are severe.

Mr Clifford Omondi, a climatologist, said African governments should adhere to policies and frameworks that govern adaptation and resilience to climate change. The policies include those set during global climate conferences, such as the Paris agreement, which established Enhanced Transparency Framework that tracks indexes related to climate change solutions, renewable energy and sustainable practices

Mr Omondi said there is need for leaders to ensure their governments implement programmes that are in line with international declarations.

“All programmes meant to fight climate change should involve capacity building, public participation and prudent management of resources,” Mr Omondi said.

The climate change expert also told regional governments to ensure their programmes are in line with the national climate risk assessment report.

The report gives information on what should be done in different parts of the country.

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