A landmark environmental pollution case pitting British Petroleum Plc against 299 petitioners from Kargi, Kalacha and other affected areas of Marsabit County was up for mention on Thusday the Isiolo Environment and Lands Court.
The petition by Asumptah Galgitele who is the whistleblower and 298 others alleges that oil exploration work carried out in the 1980s by Amoco Corporation – later acquired by British Petroleum (BP) PLC in 1998 involved the drilling of several dry wells near Kargi and Kalacha in the Chalbi Desert.
The petitioners allege that hazardous and radio-active contaminants from those operations were improperly discharged into the environment, contaminating ground water and causing illness and death among hundreds of residents and livestock in the surrounding communities.
During today’s mention that was conducted virtually before Justice Joseph Oguttu Mboya, the advocate for the petitioners Kelvin Kubai expressed dismay following a bizarre request by the Foreign Commission and development Office (FCDO) to have the pleadings by the petitioners translated to English before they could be served to the accused company (BP PLC).
Kubai noted that all the pleadings by the petitioners were prepared in English, arguing that it beats logic for FCDO to request for a translation from English to English and termed the request as a tactic to further delay the proceedings.
He noted that the petitioners have documented more than 300 cases of persons deceased due to cancers which can be directly attributed to the toxic wastes that were improperly disposed off by the Multi National Oil exploration company in parts of Marsabit County in the 1980s, making soils and water in the affected areas highly contaminated. Livestock from the region are also affected.
The court is expected to give further directions regarding the matter on 26th October 2026, with the petitioner’s advocate optimistic to get proper clarification on the request for translation to enable the matter to proceed to its logical conclusion, so that the people of Marsabit who have been pursuing the matter for over two decades can finally get justice.
According to Kubai, among the remedies being sought by the petitioners is proper restorative orders, intensive and extensive examination/scanning of the area to establish the extent of contamination, since they believe that the toxic wastes may have reached the water table, adding that mere compensation for the affected families won’t be enough.
He said that there is need for a comprehensive environmental social impact assessment to properly bring to the attention of the court the extent of contamination, for proper comprehensive restorative orders.
Asumptah Galgitele, the whistleblower of the matter who used to work as a nurse at the Kargi health center when she became suspicious of the increased cases of deaths in the area as a result of cancer and ultimately sounded the alarm, noted that the cancer burden in Kargi area and other parts of Marsabit has affected hundreds of families, expressing optimism that the affected population will finally get justice through the courts.
She said that the petitioners are determined to go to whatever lengths to ensure that BP Plc takes responsibility for their actions, including moving to the International Criminal Court incase the ongoing litigation does not work in their favor.
Hillary Halkano, one of the 299 petitioners described the cancer burden in Marsabit as a silent genocide, with hundreds of people and livestock paying the ultimate price, loss of life.
He observed that the damage caused by the disposed toxic waste was irreparable, arguing that the deaths will still continue even after conclusion of the case, but expressed optimism that the affected population will get justice.
