Elgeyo-Marakwet residents displaced by mines demand pay
Residents of Kimwarer-Sugutek in Elgeyo-Marakwet present a petition to MPs Jackson Kiptanui and Dr Susan Chebet (second right) during a meeting on February 5, 2017. They are demanding compensation for land acquired from them by mining companies. PHOTO | WYCLIFF KIPSANG | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The leaders have issued a two-month ultimatum to the government to compensate residents.
- They are seeking compensation for loss of livestock, damages to property and environmental pollution and degradation.
- They demanded for the implementation of a task force report presented to then Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala.
The government is under pressure from Elgeyo-Marakwet leaders to compensate over 500 families displaced from their more than 900 acres of ancestral land to allow mining.
The leaders have issued a two-month ultimatum to the government to pay members of Kimwarer Sugutek community millions of shillings for forceful eviction to allow for mining of fluorspar in Kerio Valley.
“We are ready to lead demonstrations to demand for compensation [for] our community members who have been subjected to socio-economic hardships following evection from ancestral land that formed their source of livelihood,” said the leaders in resolution passed at Kimwarer grounds.
Keiyo South MP Jackson Kiptanui and the County Woman Representative Susan Chebet were mandated to ensure that a petition to Parliament on the compensation demand is tabled and approved before the House is dissolved.
In the petition to be tabled in parliament, the community is seeking compensation for loss of livestock, damages to property and environmental pollution and degradation.
SH3 MILLION PER ACRE
The displaced families are demanding Sh3 million per acre for the more than 900 acres from which they were displaced over 40 years ago.
They demanded for the implementation of a task force report presented to then Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala.
“We wonder why the government has remained silent on the report that was instrumental in having the displaced families compensated,” said Mr Kigen.
The families, through lawyer Mathews Okoth, have written to the government demanding compensation for the forceful acquisition of their land.
The affected residents now want the government to revoke the 21-year special mining lease to Kenya Fluorspar Company and that they be consulted before any future mining lease is issued.
The petition by the community comes at a time when the company has suspended mining and laid off workers owing to a slump in the world fluorspar market.
Fluorspar mined at Kerio Valley is wholly exported. It is transported by road to Flax Trading Centre where it is loaded to wagons and transported by train to Mombasa.
It is used in the manufacture of steal, air conditioning systems, electronics, fibre glass, aluminium and refrigeration gases.
