Nema wants IEBC to help enforce clean-up of campaign posters

The National Environment Management Authority (Nema) wants IEBC to convene an urgent meeting with political parties and aspirants to address compliance with the environment deposit bond over the disposal of electoral campaign materials.

These are materials used by the various aspirants to popularise themselves to voters which include fliers, posters, paper caps, cloth banners and party symbol flags, the authority says.

According to Nema, all political aspirants will be required to pay a fee to facilitate the clearance of posters placed in all public places once the campaign period is over.

The authority now wants the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to relay the information to the political parties and aspirants in the 2017 elections and emphasise to them the need for compliance.

“A meeting to firm up compliance and enforcement interventions is required at your earliest convenience,” say Nema Director General David Ong’are in a letter addressed to IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati.

Mr Ong’are noted that in the previous elections, materials used during the campaigns remained an eye sore and exposed members of the public to an unhealthy environment once the elections are over.

“In order to accord all Kenyans a clean and healthy environment, it is required of all political aspirants to clean up all their electoral campaign/advertising materials from the environment,” reads the letter.

Nema intends to extend the deposit bond to other areas which include industrial plants and factories which also have effects on the environment.