The government says it will compensate thousands of Kerio Valley evictees – most of whom lost their land soon after 1971 when a state-owned fluorspar mining company was set up – but efforts have become bogged down in disputes over details. The firm’s 21-year mining lease expired in March. The abandoned pits have filled with rain, marked with danger signs to deter locals from entering the area. Demands for compensation have escalated since KFC halted operations in 2016 due to a global slump in the price of fluorspar, used in the manufacture of steel and aluminium.
The Kenya Flouspar Company, which was the largest employer in the Kerio Valley, had money trickling down to many local businesses, and it also spent millions of shillings improving local schools, paying scholarships and providing healthcare.
About 1,400 families were evicted from the fluorspar-rich 9,000-acre (3,642-hectare) site in the 1970s, according to Natural Resource Alliance of Kenya. The mining ministry said official documents show that the government did pay some compensation in 1975 but it is unclear who received the money.
[Article source: The Star, by Thomson Reuters Foundation]
