Villagers lament open pits left by iron mining firm

This photo shows a deep pit formed during extraction of iron ore at Jaribuni village, Kilifi County. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Human rights activist Mwanza Mwangiri said the company went against the agreement to rehabilitate the region.
  • Kilifi Environment Executive Kiringi Mwachitu said many locals were reluctant to push the firms to rehabilitate their parcels of land.

It is noon but the scorching sun at Jaribuni village in Kilifi County cannot stop Mr Edward Kenga from assessing the damage at his three-acre land.

He points at gaping quarries that were left open after a company he had leased it to for mining of iron ore left without refilling it as was agreed.

Mr Kenga’s land has huge pits that served as extraction wells for the minerals.

The land borders the Kaya Kauma Forest, which is a Unesco recognised national heritage site, but its wanton destruction has left Mr Kenga’s family baffled.

“I can no longer use this land because of the gaping holes. It is extremely dangerous now and we are farming on a different piece of land,” he said.

DANGER
Trouble began in 1987 when a Mombasa-based company asked for the land for an iron ore mining project.

The family agreed to lease the land but with a watertight agreement that the company was to refill the mines after they finish their activities.

“But when the company exited in 1997, it did not refill the gaping pits, which have now killed at least two cows and several goats. When we tried to follow up the matter, they returned and refilled only half an acre,” he said.

Mr Kenga said some of the pits are more than 50 feet deep.

He now wants both the national and county government to come to their rescue.

“Some of my neighbours have also abandoned their land because of the quarries,” he said.

CRIPPLED
Next to Mr Kenga’s farm, we meet 47-year-old Edward Mwagandi, another victim of the iron ore project.

Mr Karisa was hit by a falling heap of iron ore residues 10 years ago while inside an extraction well.

Although he survived, he suffered a broken spine, and now he has a growth in his backbone.

“On the morning of October 30, 1994, I was hit by a failing heap of the minerals. I was 50 feet down but it was by the grace of God that I came out alive. However, I suffered a broken spine and I cannot work anymore,” he said.

The company, he said, gave him Sh300,000 as compensation, but he did not see the importance of the money since he used all of it for medication.

“I was paid in bits and they only told me one day that I had exhausted my compensation,” he said.

“I have been in and out of hospitals. Currently, I need help to undergo surgery to repair my broken spine.

"I also have a growth in my backbone. I cannot work, yet my mother and my late brother’s siblings depend on me,” he added.

ENVIRONMENT
Human rights activist and Careway Trust chairperson Mwanza Mwangiri said the company went against the agreement to rehabilitate the region.

“The agreement was clear that the company was to rehabilitate the area after their mining period was over. After they left without adhering to the agreement, we started to push them to act.

“After bowing to pressure, they returned only to plant less than 200 trees, and left,” Mr Mwangiri said.

“All the environmental degradation was left on the shoulders of locals,” he added.

Mr Mwangiri said more than 20 acres of land in Jaribuni ward can no longer be used after they were leased to the mining companies.

“We are staring at a crisis because almost 10 kilometres from this land, the whole area was dug and left open.

“There are more than 40 families that leased their land to investors, who left without fulfilling the agreement. It is terrible,” he said.

REHABILITATE
In 2016, two artisanal miners died at Mbudzi village when a quarry caved in and buried them alive.

Then-Mining Cabinet Secretary Dan Kazungu toured the region and assessed the activities in the mines around Jaribuni and its environs.

When the Nation team visited Mbudzi village on Thursday, it found the quarry abandoned.

Locals did not speak to journalists, saying their officials were not at the site.

“You can only be briefed by our chairman who is not around. Maybe you can come back next week,” a villager said.

Kilifi Environment Executive Kiringi Mwachitu said many locals were reluctant to push the firms to rehabilitate their parcels of land.

Mr Mwachitu said the county was mooting a plan to see how they will rehabilitate the areas.

Kauma Deputy County Commissioner Mohamed Mwabudzo confirmed the existence of the abandoned pits in several villages and said that the government was planning a stakeholders meeting to address the problem.