The NEMA Director General, Dr. Mamo B. Mamo, EBS has called on regional environmental management agencies to collaborate to enhance management of the environment in the Continent.
The DG was speaking at high level Panel discussion in Tanzania during the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) 40 years commemorations at Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre in Dar es Salaam, on 29th May 2026. NEMA Chairman, Mr. Emilio Mugo also attended the event.
The Director General added that Africa as a regional faces similar environmental challenges of which if African environment management agencies work together can enhance their outputs as well as attract more funding on various areas including climate change mitigation.
The panel discussion themed, “Advancing Regional and Global Environmental governance: The Strategic Role of Authorities.” brought together Director Generals; Dr. Barirega Akankwasah (Uganda), Prof. Nana Ama Browne ( Ghana), Dr. Wilfred Kadewa ( Malawi), Dr. Immaculate Semesi (Tanzania) and Prof. Innocent Bariate Barikor (Nigeria).
Each of the Director Generals shared their experiences on issues affecting environmental management in their respective countries as well as how they have managed them.
Dr. Mamo further shared his experiences on environmental management in the Kenyan context where he indicated that Kenya has embedded environmental management in the Constitution 2010 in addition to the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA), 1999 among other statutory laws.
He stated that for environmental management to be successful, citizens must be involved. He highlighted Article 42 of the Constitution that gives the rights and responsibilities to citizens for a clean and healthy environment.
The DG further said that Kenya has made strides in environment protection due to inclusion of voluntary compliance and enforcement “carrot and stick” with public education and awareness taking a central role.
Malawi DG Dr. Wilfred Kadewa in particular pointed out instances they have been in NEMA Kenya for peer learning on climate change, enforcement and compliance as they look forward towards growth of their Malawi Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) that only 2 years old.
During the occasion, NEMC launched the Tanzania Online Continuous Emissions System (TOCEMS) to join NEMA that is already implementing KOCEMS. This will enable real time monitoring of air and water quality from industries. Nigeria and Ghana are also implementing the system. The system is being implemented with support from United Platform Solutions (UPS).
The opening session was officiated by the Prime Minister of Tanzania Dr. Mwigulu Nchemba while the 2nd Vice President of Zanzibar, H.E Hemed Suleiman Abdulla, officiated the second day official commemorations.
