Nyatike Member of Parliament, Tom Odege, has called on the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to ensure the safety of miners and local residents around mining sites within the area.
The legislator noted that, due to neglect by NEMA, dangerous chemicals like mercury used for leaching have been left to seep into rivers, leading to the deaths of a number of residents and livestock.
Speaking in Migori Town, Odege expressed concern for the local artisanal miners, who are not protected by the mining laws as opposed to the large-scale miners.
The MP made the remarks while in the company of the National Assembly Committee on Environment, Forestry, and Mining, which was touring the region.
“We call upon the government to ensure the safety of miners and residents down the river and around the lakes even as they are trying to fix messes in the mining sector,” he said.
The MP underscored the importance of improving gold processing activities in Nyatike as a way of ensuring that middlemen who exploit miners are cut off from the market.
Odege also criticised the system of transporting the raw gold soil from Nyatike to Kakamega for processing as recently ordered by the state, saying this was bound to increase the number of middlemen involved, which in turn leads to the miners incurring losses.
He explained that if a processing site is developed next to the mining site, a few middlemen will be involved.
“The reason why we want an improved way of processing gold is to increase the market and reduce middlemen who take advantage of our miners,” said Odege.
However, he expressed his concern over the illegal mining activities in the area, noting that only a small number of the mining sites in the area are legalised. Over 90 per cent of the sites, including those owned by the Chinese, operate without licenses.
His comments come days after Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki issued a directive to ban artisanal and unlicensed commercial mining following the deaths of six miners in Kakamega County in March, 2024.
The order also led to the arrest of more than 30 Chinese citizens found in the mining business without permits.
The Member of Parliament for Nakuru East Constituency and the Chair of the National Assembly Committee on Environment, Forestry, and Mining, David Gikaria, recalled that during the public participation exercise in the region, Nyatike artisan miners came up with proposals that the committee agreed on.
The main aim of the proposals was to amend the mining regulatory authority in the bill.
Among them was the suggestion to have a tribunal for them to be able to address issues without engaging the court.
The chair also said that the legislation is also paramount for the committee to operationalise and be able to effectively bring out socio-economic benefit to the locals.
By Anjeline Ogal and Xavier Gabriela
