Stakeholders Call for People-Centred Sustainability to Drive Long-Term Development

Stakeholders in Kenya are advocating for a paradigm shift towards people-centred sustainability, emphasizing that genuine long-term development hinges on empowering communities, protecting their rights, and ensuring their active involvement in shaping solutions. This approach necessitates a robust legal framework that moves beyond mere compliance, integrating constitutional principles of public participation and environmental rights with sectoral legislation. Legal practitioners must navigate complex statutory provisions, evolving jurisprudence, and the increasing demand for meaningful stakeholder engagement, particularly in environmental impact assessments and land-related projects, to mitigate legal risks and foster equitable development outcomes.

The discourse surrounding sustainable development in Kenya is undergoing a critical evolution, with a growing consensus among stakeholders that a truly impactful and enduring approach must be 'people-centred'. This perspective, recently highlighted by various actors, posits that sustainable development cannot be achieved without the active empowerment, protection, and involvement of communities in the design and implementation of solutions. It represents a call to move beyond superficial engagement, demanding that development initiatives genuinely reflect the needs and aspirations of those most affected.

This shift carries significant implications for legal professionals and entities operating within Kenya's development landscape. It mandates a re-evaluation of existing legal frameworks and practices to ensure that community rights, public participation, and environmental justice are not merely procedural checkboxes but foundational pillars of any project or policy. For practitioners, understanding and effectively navigating this evolving standard is crucial to ensuring legal compliance, mitigating risks, and contributing to equitable and sustainable outcomes.

The article will explore the constitutional and statutory underpinnings of people-centred sustainability in Kenya, analyse the challenges in its practical implementation, and highlight key areas where legal expertise is essential to bridge the gap between policy intent and meaningful community empowerment.

Kenya's legal framework provides a strong foundation for people-centred sustainability, primarily anchored in the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. Article 10 enshrines public participation as a national value and principle of governance, binding all state organs and persons when applying or interpreting the Constitution, enacting laws, or making public policy decisions. Furthermore, Article 42 grants every person the right to a clean and healthy environment, including the right to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations. This right is justiciable and enforceable, elevating environmental stewardship to a fundamental human right.

Complementing these constitutional provisions, the Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act (EMCA), 1999, serves as the primary regulatory framework for environmental management. EMCA mandates environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for projects listed in its Second Schedule, explicitly requiring public participation in this process. The Environmental (Impact Assessment and Audit) Regulations, 2003, further operationalise these requirements, detailing how proponents must seek views from affected persons. Additionally, the Community Land Act, 2016, provides a framework for the recognition, protection, and registration of community land rights, empowering communities to own, manage, and sustainably utilise their land, often requiring Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for projects on community land. Kenya's Vision 2030, the country's long-term development blueprint, also explicitly identifies a 'people-centred' political pillar and aims for a just and cohesive society in a clean and secure environment under its social pillar, developed through an all-inclusive and participatory stakeholder consultative process.

Despite the robust legal framework, the practical implementation of people-centred sustainability in Kenya often faces significant challenges. Public participation, while constitutionally mandated, has frequently been criticised as tokenistic or inadequate, failing to genuinely incorporate community views into decision-making processes. Courts have, however, played a crucial role in reinforcing the importance of meaningful public participation. Landmark cases, such as *Mohamed Ali Baadi and others v Attorney General & 11 others*, have invalidated project approvals due to insufficient public participation, emphasising that appropriate information must be provided and sufficient opportunity given for communities to express their views. Similarly, the Environmental Tribunal overturned an environmental license for a coal plant in Lamu County, citing the failure of the proponent and NEMA to properly engage the public in the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) process.

The *Metal Refinery (EPZ) Ltd v. Owino Uhuru Residents* case further underscored corporate and state accountability, with the Supreme Court awarding substantial damages and mandating environmental clean-up due to toxic lead emissions, highlighting the failure to conduct proper EIAs and public participation. This ruling reinforces the 'polluter pays' principle and sets a strong precedent for environmental governance and human rights in business. The Community Land Act, 2016, while progressive, has also faced implementation challenges, including slow registration processes, conflicts arising from dual land governance structures, and the risk of individualisation of communal lands, which can undermine collective resource management and climate resilience.

Moreover, the concept of 'people-centred sustainability' extends beyond environmental impact assessments to encompass broader business and human rights considerations. Kenya has developed a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP), aligning with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). This NAP mandates businesses, including state-owned enterprises, to conduct human rights due diligence, proactively identify and mitigate risks, and ensure access to effective remedies for human rights violations, particularly in sectors impacting land rights and environmental sustainability. The lack of a specific national-level legislation to refine public participation, despite a Bill being in the Senate, continues to leave its parameters largely defined by judicial pronouncements, such as those in *Kiambu County Government & 3 others v Robert N. Gakuru & Others*, which outlined elements like real and not illusory participation, quantitative and qualitative attainment, and access to information.

The call for people-centred sustainability in Kenya signifies a crucial evolution in development paradigms, demanding that legal frameworks and practices genuinely reflect the constitutional imperatives of public participation, environmental rights, and community empowerment. For legal practitioners, this translates into a heightened responsibility to ensure that clients, whether government agencies, project proponents, or private businesses, adhere to the spirit and letter of the law. This includes conducting thorough and meaningful Environmental Impact Assessments, securing Free Prior and Informed Consent where applicable, and establishing robust grievance mechanisms that place affected communities at their core.

Failure to embrace this approach carries significant legal and reputational risks, as demonstrated by recent judicial pronouncements that have nullified projects and imposed substantial liabilities for environmental and human rights infringements. Practitioners must therefore advise on proactive integration of community engagement and rights protection throughout the project lifecycle, moving beyond mere procedural compliance to foster genuine partnerships and equitable benefit-sharing. The ongoing development of the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights and the continuous judicial interpretation of constitutional rights will further shape this landscape, necessitating vigilance and adaptability from all legal stakeholders committed to sustainable and just development in Kenya.