Bill drafted to bring sanity to sand harvesting

Efforts to  enact a law to bring sanity in the multimillion shillings unregulated sand harvesting in Kitui county have entered a crucial stage.

The Kitui county River Basins Sand Utilization and Conservation Bill 2023 has been taken to the MCAs for legislation.

The bill was drafted to bring order to the chaotic, environmentally and economically unfriendly sand mining being done by cartels.

It was drafted by Governor Julius Malombe’s administration.

Violence and fatalities have been reported in the past after various unorganised groups  fought to take control of sand harvesting sites.

Currently, Kitui MCAs and officers from the county department of mineral resources are holed up in a Mwingi hotel to interrogate the draft bill that will if enacted to law, will bring order in sand mining.

The bill is a variation of the Kitui county sand harvesting and management bill that was previously proposed by a sand harvesting task-force.

The draft policy will facilitate enforcement once the draft bill is passed into law.

County Executive energy and mineral, John Mwendandu and other experts are expected to break down the proposed bill to MCAs ahead of public participation.

Mwendandu said upon enactment, the bill will be a landmark legislation that will demonstrate Kitui’s commitment to sustainable development and environmental conservation.

The CEC said the proposed bill is designed to put in place strict compliance with environmental standards leading to responsible sand harvesting practices.

He said one the most remarkable feature of the proposed bill was the involvement of the local communities in sand harvesting activities.

He said this will in effect, edge out the profiteering cartels.  

“The bill stipulates that sand harvesting shall be done by river basin based cooperative societies that will be composed of members from registered site based community sand groups in the respective basin catchments.

Kitui county assembly energy, natural and mineral resources chairman Daniel Muange are among the MCAs familiarising themselves with the proposed bill.

Muange who represents Tseikuru ward said the forum was important because MCAs had  to understand the contents before it is taken for public participation.

“All MCAs are here. We need to understand the proposed legislation since we will take the draft bill to Kitui residents for public participation next week,’ he said.

He expressed optimism that the bill will be taken to Kitui assembly for debate by the  end of this month