The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) announced that its officers arrested two traders in Embu town on Tuesday after finding 4,995 pieces of prohibited plastic carrier bags in their possession.

The two suspects were subsequently arraigned in court to answer charges of possessing the banned bags, marking a concrete step in the authority’s enforcement drive.

NEMA warned that anyone found dealing in such bags faces fines ranging from Ksh2 million to Ksh4 million and imprisonment of one to four years, as stipulated under Section 144 of the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA) and the 2024 regulations.

The penalties are grounded in Section 144 of EMCA and the Environmental Management and Coordination Regulations, 2024, which criminalise manufacturing, importing, exporting, using or selling plastic carrier or flat bags without a licence.

The ban, introduced in 2017, seeks to curb the environmental damage caused by the estimated 24 million plastic bags used each month before the prohibition, which had clogged drainage systems in urban areas.

NEMA noted that despite the nationwide ban, some traders continue to import plastic bags from neighbouring countries such as Uganda and sell them covertly, prompting ongoing enforcement actions.