The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry has bowed to pressure and withdrawn Legal Notice No. 71 Environmental Management and Coordination (Strategic and Integrated Environmental Assessments and Environmental Audits) Regulations, 2025.
Appearing before the Senate Committee on Delegated Legislation on Monday, Principal Secretary Dr. Festus Ng’eno announced that the Ministry had decided to withdraw the regulations following extensive consultations.
“We have resolved to withdraw the Legal Notice No. 71 of 2025 after we realised that we were heading nowhere. We have done that to allow more consultations and involvement of all the stakeholders,” submitted Dr Ng’eno.
He informed the Committee that the Ministry had already notified the Clerk of the Senate and would formally communicate the same to the National Assembly on Tuesday.
A letter from the Ministry read, “The Ministry wishes to have the Legal Notice withdrawn from the legislative process so as to facilitate further public consultation processes, being the outcome of further stakeholder deliberations. We endeavour to table the Statutory Instrument before the House at the appropriate time.”
Read Also: Senator Questions Missing Billions in The Ministry of Education
The withdrawal follows a directive from the Senate Committee on Delegated Legislation, chaired by Senator Mwenda Gataya, instructing Cabinet Secretary Dr. Deborah Mulongo Barasa and her Ministry to revisit the proposed regulations in light of public concerns or risk annulment.
“We, as a Committee have a straightforward mandate. After thorough scrutiny of these Regulations, we must either annul them or allow them, there is no third option,” stated Senator Gataya.
The Environment Institute of Kenya (EIK) had earlier petitioned Parliament, calling for a comprehensive legal review of the 2025 Regulations to ensure compliance with the Statutory Instruments Act, 2013 and adherence to constitutional requirements on transparency and public participation. The EIK also recommended immediate suspension or annulment of the regulations and requested a formal hearing for environmental professionals and stakeholders to offer input and propose reforms.
Following PS Ng’eno’s announcement, Members of the Committee, led by the Chair welcomed the Ministry’s decision but urged strict compliance with the law to prevent similar occurrences in the future. They further called on the Ministry to expedite and gazette the withdrawal.
Other Senators present during the meeting were Senator Mohamed Faki (Mombasa), Senator Betty Montet, Senator Daniel Maanzo (Makueni) and Senator Issa Musa Boy (Kwale).