Mining CS Hassan Joho has revealed plans to station mining experts at the ports to ascertain value minerals exported from the country.
The experts will check the type and quantity of the minerals to improve Kenya's export revenue.
“This is because we don’t want someone to miss-declare cargo and get away with devaluing our minerals,” Joho said.
He said KRA and other agencies at the Mombasa Port are not properly equipped to handle the checks.
“We have engaged the Kenya Ports Authority on the matter. We do not want to lose even a cent. The government must ensure rightful dues are paid for all exports," Joho said.
Kenya has vast mineral deposits that are unexploited as data gaps keep the country’s undiscovered underground wealth out of the economic system.
So far, Kenya has established substantial quantities of ores and industrial minerals.
"They include, soda ash, fluorspar, titanium, niobium, gold, coal, iron ore, limestone, manganese, diatomite, gemstones, gypsum and natural carbon dioxide,” Ministry of Mining wrote in a report.
It said Kenya has world class deposits of rare earth elements at the Coast with an estimated worth of Sh6.2 trillion.
These could propel the country to the list of top five nations in the world with rare earth deposits.
On Monday, Joho said the government will focus in these deposits to ensure Kenya reaps from its own resources and boosts its economy.
“We have to create and sustain our own wealth,” he said.
He spoke at the Kenya Maritime Authority offices in Mombasa after a meeting with KMA chairperson Hamisi Mwaguya.
The CS said he will have a conversation with the governors of counties bordering the sea to come up with ways of ensuring seafarers get requisite sea time.
“Sea time is the biggest challenge that our budding seafarers face,” Joho said.
Mwaguya said recruitment of seafarers should follow the right protocol.
He said many seafarers are duped into getting employment in vessels by agents who are not licensed by KMA.
This has left many stranded after ship owners and the rogue agents failed to pay and ensure their safe return.
“That is why we ask seafarers to log in to our website and find licensed recruitment agencies,” Mwaguya said.
He said many cases of abandonment and lack of payment are from unregistered recruitment agencies.
Joho said they are working on modalities to make sea time an internship programme that takes trainees to a vessel for requisite training.
“Basic sea time is just about 10 days. We will develop that programme,” the CS said.
Joho put on notice grabbers of fish landing sites, asking them to quietly return the sites.
He said the land grabbings have made it hard for fishermen to land their fish after treacherous time at the sea fishing.
“If you have built a house on a landing site, saying you own a beach plot, start pulling it down. Take your time, before we come to do it for you,” he said.
Joho was accompanied by Maritime Affairs PS Geoffrey Kaituko and Blue Economy PS Betsy Muthoni.
Mombasa county has more than 46 landing sites, half of which are grabbed.
Joho said fishermen must have sustainable programmes to succeed in their trade.
“Fishermen must have spaces to dock, get the fish out of their boats, process them and get them to the market,” he said.
The CS called on the county commissioners and governors of the counties bordering the sea and other water bodies to work together to ensure the grabbed landing sites are returned to the public.
