Kakamega artisanal miners operating without licence despite state recognition

Gold mining in Kakamega dates back to the gold rush of the 1930s.

Artisanal mining, which operates in informal setups, accounts for 90 per cent of mining works.

The exercise takes place in Ikolomani, Shinyalu, Lurambi, Butere and Khwisero subcounties.

The approach uses rudimentary methods that do not involve machinery to extract minerals.

Small-scale mining involves use of some machines.

Despite the occupation being in existence for decades, artisanal gold miners in Kakamega operate without licence.

Although the Mining Act 2016, recognises their existence, the government only issues licences to big companies.

This would be interpreted to mean artisanal mining is not recognised.

George M’mbwabi, 46, has been mining at the Rosterman site since 2014.

Rosterman mines was the only one that remained active as others in Kakamega were depleted in the gold rush.

He is concerned that artisanal miners have no space despite the law recognising their existence.

Those mining along rivers are constantly harassed and arrested because the National Environmental Management Authority has banned extraction along waterways.

“There are sites which you find gold, but you need to have a licence to do an agreement with the owner of the land. You are just crippled at this point,” M’mbwabi said.

The state should also define who an artisan miner is, as big companies that use machinery still refer to themselves as artisanal.

“The government must come up with mechanisms through which artisanal miners can access licences through their co-operatives to avoid a situation where only one big mining company has a blanket licence to the detriment of others,” he said.

Additionally, the government should come clear on who should or receives the community’s share of royalties on gold mining.

The Act provides for the national government, county government and community to share royalties from mining on 70%, 20% and 10% basis. 

He said Rosterman alone produces 50g of gold and a gram goes for Sh8,000, translating to Sh12 million monthly and Sh144 million annually.

This means the community in Rosterman should be receiving Sh1.2m in royalties every year.

Finny Likoko, who has worked in Rosterman for 25 years, says mining has been hijacked by cartels that are frustrating artisanal miners.

“It is regrettable that Rosterman remains the poorest village in Kakamega yet the most precious mineral has been extracted there for close to a century. What is happening in  Rosterman is a miniaturised scene of what used to happen in the DR Congo,” he said.

Given a chance, his site, which has two shafts, five stone crushers, five pools and a workforce of 90 people, can create employment for 10,000.

The government formed an artisanal mining committee and constituted a mining police unit, but these efforts have been washed away as the cartels reign supreme.

“If the ministry is not keen, even terrorists will enter the sector because the government has not issued licences but mining is happening and gold is being shipped out of the country,” he said.

The 55-year-old says artisanal miners were also being intimidated by people who come in as investors.

“We have some cases where people give their land to investors to do mining  but they end up forging ownership of the parcels. What they do is to pocket the police, courts and the department of environment,” he said.

The investors instigate conflict among family members over land ownership and as the relatives fight, the investors cart away gold.

“People now fear giving consent to the investors for mining for fear of being defrauded of their land. I have a cooperative but what we don’t have is money,” Likoko said.

“There is no peace in the organisation because anytime members complain of anything, they are arrested and when investors complain we are arrested.”

To drive out cartels, the miners said the government should ensure that licences are issued on the ground

This will enable the community to know who the applicants are, locking out crooks who hide behind cartels.

“What the government needs to do is to rid gold mining of cartels and restrict a single investor to deal with a specific community,” he added.

Mining Committee chairman Patrick Ligami said they have been unable to issue licences because of lack of facilitation.

Artisan workers and the communities also need to be better informed on industry requirements before issuing licences, but the resources to carry out civic education remain a challenge.

“We’re supposed to sensitise the miners on what they need to have to be able to be licensed but we don’t have facilitation to do this,” he said.

“We want to organise a sensitisation meeting to tell the miners and the community what is required of them to be licenced to mine.”

The state department for mining and petroleum should fast track outlining the areas prescribed for artisanal and small-scale miners and start issuance of licences.

“So far, only prospecting licences have been issued to large scale mining companies in Kakamega,” he said.

An artisanal miner must have consent for the site to mine and an Environmental Impact Assessment Report in order to be licensed.

It would cost the miners up to Sh150,000 to be licensed to operate a single shaft, which is difficult to raise.

Ligami said the committee should help miners to form co-operatives, to facilitate pooling of resources for their operations.

Illegal foreign miners were also sneaking into the county to mine without licences.

“We arrested some foreigners last month in Shinyalu and handed them to police since they had no single paper but they were released within two hours. It means they are being protected by some powerful individuals in the system,” he said.

Further, most of the mining was taking place on land that was in the process of succession, impeding miners from obtaining consent.

Although the government has not issued mining licences since 2016, the practice is ongoing, causing the state to continue to lose royalties.

Western regional police commander Kiprono Lang’at said that the service has stopped officers from visiting mining sites unless they are on official duty.

“The public should report any police officer seen engaging in any undertaking in mining sites to us for action,” Lang’at said.

This was in response to reports of police officers being misused by investors in the mining sector.