Why the dead in Rachuonyo can’t rest in peace

For any environmentally conscious person, a walk around Wang’ Chieng’ ward in Rachuonyo North sub-county, Homa Bay County, can be disturbing.

Deep gullies and weak cliffs characterise the topography, with tree roots exposed and electricity poles sitting on weak foundations, bending precariously sideways.

That is not all. Most mud-walled houses hang on the edge of loose cliffs and there is very little space for children to play.

This is a stark contradiction to the situation decades ago, when the land was covered in green vegetation.

Residents engaged in crop farming, which was their main source of income, while animals would be seen grazing in fields of abundant pasture.

Suddenly, there was a boom in the construction industry around the Lake region in counties like Kisumu, Kisii, Kericho, Migori and Nyamira - and construction companies wanted a constant supply of sand.

Wang’ Chieng’ had plenty of sand and residents soon realised that they had been sitting on treasure all along. It marked the beginning of Wang’ Chieng’s disturbing environmental degradation.

The high demand for sand led to the mushrooming of illegal sand quarries in Wang’ Chieng’, where residents indiscriminately scooped soil from the ground for sale. It became a key income-generation activity, the environmental hazards notwithstanding.

One of the areas most affected by the activity is Kobala location, where even the dead are not allowed to rest in peace.

Families have sold sand around their homes to the extent that some people leave their houses hanging.

It is not easy for motorists, who have to move with caution or risk tumbling down the gullies on both sides of the road.

In November 2019, the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) banned unregulated sand harvesting in the whole country.

Despite the ban, residents of Kobala continue with their illegal activities. Some have resorted to harvesting sand at night to escape the wrath of environmentalists.

Mr Cosmus Onyango, a quarry worker and a resident of Kobala, says many families depend on sand harvesting as their source of income.

Buyers target the location

The 28-year-old man says his family used to plant maize to take care of their daily needs.

But the quick cash they received from sand prompted them to start harvesting sand.

Ten tonnes of sand in Kobala cost Sh2,000, which is paid to the landowner.

Ironically, the same quantity of sand is sold for between Sh17,000 and Sh25,000 when it reaches neighbouring towns like Kisii, meaning those at the source are being exploited.

Mr Onyango says the low price of sand in the area is why many buyers target the location.

“The quick cash, however little, is what pushes families to sell sand in their land. Others have gone to the extent of selling soil used to bury their relatives,” he said.

The effects of excessive sand harvesting in Kobala go beyond damaging houses.

At Chuowe beach, fishermen complain about the lack of a market for their catch.

This is because vehicles cannot access the beach with the bad roads and backflow from Lake Victoria, which is partly caused by illegal sand harvesting.

The beach has also been in darkness for more than two years after electricity poles on the road to the beach fell because of weak foundations.

Ms Susan Atieno, a fishmonger at the beach, says traders are having difficulties preserving fish because of lack of electricity.

“Lack of power does not only affect fish preservation. Traders who operate machines that rely on electricity had to shut down,” she says.

Last month, boda boda riders held a protest in Kobala in a bid to save the land from degradation.

Environmental impact assessment

They are among people who are greatly affected by the effects of excessive sand harvesting.

Mr Philip Onduto, a rider, says sand harvesting was suspended for one week but the activities resumed shortly after.

Homa Bay County Nema Director Josiah Nyandoro says sand mining is not an illegal activity. It only becomes illegal when it is unregulated and unlicensed.

He says sand harvesting should be done in delineated sites that have been subjected to environmental impact assessment and licensed by the environmental watchdog.

“The order by Nema was meant to ensure that sand harvesting sites are rehabilitated to their original state. This does not happen in Kobala,” Mr Nyandoro said.

Since the ban, police working with Nema officials have arrested at least 60 people, who have been arraigned and fined up to Sh150,000.

But the arrests, which are meant to serve as a lesson to others who might be thinking of engaging in illegal activity, have never helped.

Mr Nyandoro says some of the individuals who are arrested have gone back to the quarries to scoop sand for sale.

He told families in Kobala to embrace other income-generating activities, like farming, to protect the environment.

Sand harvesters in other counties, he said, have formed groups that help them manage their environment.

“Quarry workers should form resource users’ associations and draft a constitution that clearly stipulates the limits. They should then set aside some amount of money for rehabilitating the environment,” he said.

Nema said its attempts to restore the environment in the affected area to its original state is being thwarted by the Homa Bay County government.

Mr Nyandoro said Homa Bay collects cess from lorry drivers transporting sand.

He says this encourages transporters to continue engaging in the activity, because the county government appears more interested in dues collected than environmental protection.

“When a sand harvester and a transporter have a receipt from one arm of the government, he thinks that he is engaging in a legal activity. Environmental protection requires a collaborative effort from all arms of the government, including police,” Mr Nyandoro said.