The Ministry of Mining and Petroleum has been put on the spot for allegedly allocating mining fields without the involvement of land owners. Local ranchers claimed that three foreign mining companies had been given about 500 square kilometres of land around Taita and Sagala hills.
Oza Ranch chairman Priston Mwazighe said the law stated that one had to first obtain a mining consent from the land owner and county government before being issued with a licence to prospect for minerals.
A local conservationist with the Kenya Forest Service, Christopher Maina, said areas earmarked for mining such as Sangenyi, Mwanda, Mgange, Mwaroko, and Kishushe, which were rich in iron ore, were also home to endemic plant and wildlife species.
Mwazighe also claimed that the mining blocks had been entered into the Kenya Cadastral Map, which shows the boundaries and ownership of land parcels, and demanded an investigation.
Deputy County Commissioner Francis Kazungu said the Kishushe iron ore belt extended into some of the areas that the mining companies had asked for permission to prospect. “There is no cause for alarm as geologists started prospecting for minerals in local ranches a long time ago. Nobody will be deprived of his or her mining land rights by the companies. There must be consent from the land owners,” he said.
[Article source: The Standard, by Renson Mnyamwezi]
