On Tuesday, January 22, Kenya’s parliament disbanded the agency tasked with developing nuclear projects, essentially putting all nuclear projects on hold. By closing the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA), parliament also eliminated its one-billion Kenyan shilling budget. The decision is a significant success for Right Livelihood Laureate Phyllis Omido, who has long campaigned against an ill-planned nuclear power plant in the Uyombo community.
For the past three years, 2023 Right Livelihood Laureate Phyllis Omido has led a grassroots campaign calling for Kenya to abandon nuclear energy in favour of renewable alternatives. Her efforts emphasised the importance of respecting people’s constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment. During her campaign, she has been especially critical of NuPEA for failing to conduct adequate environmental impact assessments.
“At the grassroots level, we managed to change the [minds of] parliamentarians who were supporting the nuclear idea,” Omido said. “They are now speaking for us, or as anti-nuclear voices. The Member of Parliament who tabled the petition in Parliament to disband [the agency] was initially pro-nuclear.”
The decision halts nuclear projects planned along Kenya’s coast, including one in Uyombo, Kilifi County. Omido’s anti-nuclear campaign focused on the village due to its proximity to the Arabuko Sokoke Forest—East Africa’s last remaining coastal forest and a biological reserve. She mobilised the local community by gathering thousands of petition signatures and informing them of their “right to say no” to projects that harm their livelihoods and environment.
“We have been asking the government to acknowledge the fact that there is no justification for Kenya to go into nuclear,” Omido said. “The disbanding of NuPEA shows that the government has listened and heard what we said… This means that the race toward nuclear energy is slowed down, at least.”
Despite this major milestone in the campaign, Omido remains vigilant: “It does not mean that Kenya has completely stopped its nuclear ambitions … now there will exist an arm within the Ministry of Energy that will look into nuclear.”
She also stressed the need for renewable energy investment, saying, “We have immense potential for renewables, especially at the coast … Moving forward, we have to have energy that is in the control of Kenyans. We do not want energy that is 100 per cent in control of foreign powers.”
The anti-nuclear campaign in Uyombo gained international attention in May 2024 when police cracked down on peaceful protestors, firing live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas canisters to disperse community members. Several people were beaten and arrested.
In solidarity, Right Livelihood joined an international delegation to visit Uyombo in July 2024, which included meetings with NuPEA and the Kilifi governor. Omido says the support of her fellow Laureates was key in the government’s decision to disband the agency.
“This is not a victory that I would have won alone as Phyllis,” she said. “I celebrate my Right Livelihood family of Laureates and Goldman [Prize] Laureates, who came through for us during this struggle. We will continue with the struggle to ensure there’s a just energy transition in Kenya. It does not end here.”