The security team in Kuria West Sub County of Migori County has stopped, with immediate effect, the mining of gold on government land within and around Kehancha town.
In a terse statement released today by the chairman of the area security committee, Mr. Andrew Mwiti, no person of whatever status would ever again be allowed to carry out gold extraction on government-designated land within the area.
Mr. Mwiti, who is also the area Deputy County Commissioner (DCC), said that the committee that draws its membership from his office, the police, the national environment management authority (NEMA), the mining office, and other relevant civil bodies agreed to put a halt to gold extraction activities within the area to curb environmental degradation and save the lives of the residents.
The chairman noted that what has been going on in the area for a couple of years now has been a total destruction of the environment, especially on land designated for government offices and other public land.
“The environment around government offices in Kehancha, including mine, has not been favourable for workers because of the continuous deafening noises coming from these gold mines,” explained Mwiti, warning that this would not be allowed to continue anymore.
The committee noted that the activities of extracting gold near government offices have led to the destruction of institutions’ infrastructure, which includes roads, walls, and floors of government offices that have developed huge, multiple cracks.
Mining points have also seen several lives lost in the past when the water-logged shafts collapsed, burying miners inside them.
The ban, however, attracted the wrath of residents, who said it will affect their normal lives seriously if they heeded it.
Mr. Chacha Mogosi, whom we interviewed a few minutes after climbing outside the gold pit he had entered to work in as early as 3 a.m. near the Kehancha stadium, vowed to continue with his job even if the state will be hard on diggers by whatever means.
But environmentalists have in recent months raised an alarm over the wanton destruction of farms, residential areas, and grazing lands within the region as a result of the intensive gold mining happening there.
They have also expressed concern about the unchecked pollution of rivers in the entire region by the mushrooming gold mining firms.
This, they said, threatened the survival of human life, livestock, and plant species, especially within Kehancha town suburbs and the entire region.
“The entire land is home to human beings and is key to the survival of our livestock and plant species. If not well protected, then the affected areas are likely to become serious food deficit points and a death trap for mankind, animals, and plant species,” said Conserve Migori Lobby (CML) group official Joseph Chacha.
By George Agimba
