Why mineral prospecting has left Kwale, Kilifi residents worried

Anxiety has gripped locals in sections of Kwale and Kilifi counties as the government intensifies fresh plans for mineral prospecting across the country.

In Kwale, residents and political leaders are wary as the government has revived plans to exploit minerals at the controversial Mrima Hill.

Earlier plans to exploit the minerals worth billions of dollars met controversies that led to the cancellation of a license issued to a Canadian firm in March 2013.

The company, Cortec Mining Kenya (CMK) Limited, was linked to the late businessman Jacob Juma, who died in Nairobi in 2016.

It lost a case where it had sued the state at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, a case that revealed deep political manoeuvres that major investors make to penetrate the market.

According to previously published reports on feasibility studies by Cortec Mining Kenya Limited Company, Mrima Hill has mineral deposits worth $62.4 billion (Sh8.18 trillion). The area also has niobium deposits estimated to be worth $35 billion (Sh4.59 trillion).

The company also confirmed a deposit of 680 million kilograms of niobium held in 105 million tonnes at 0.7 per cent niobium pentoxide. 

Niobium is a mineral used in making steel and high-tech electronic products whose demand is currently high globally. These results put Mrima Hill in Kenya on the global map containing some of the highest rare mineral deposits in the world.

Mrima Hill, among the highest areas in the Coastal Strip, is visible when one drives along the Likoni-Lunga Lunga highway after the Shimoni Junction. There is a forest around the hill.

Residents here are aware that there are rare earth minerals in the hill but have also been using the hill as a source of income from the ecotourism activities such as bird watching and cultural activities that have taken place here since its gazettement as a Kaya and a national monument.

Kaya elders occasionally perform their rituals in the sacred groove for the Digo and Duruma communities.

In an advertisement in one of the local dailies in January, the Ministry of Mining called for proposals for professional consultancy services “to undertake a detailed feasibility study on the niobium and rare earth elements occurrences in the Mrima Hill Complex”.

Mrima Hill Community Forest Association (CFA) Chairperson Nassir Abdalla said the government should put the interests of the residents first as it continues with its plans to exploit the minerals.

“We have always known that there are minerals here, but we formed this association with community members that protect and conserve this forest because of the direct benefits that we get from it such as clean air, rainwater for our farming activities and ecotourism,” said Mr Abdalla.

He added that any development planned on the hill should be systematic and place the interests and welfare of the residents first.

The hill is surrounded by five villages, all of which directly or indirectly depend on the forest for their livelihood, with the majority practising farming as an economic activity.

A tour by Nation.Africa in the area surrounding the hill showed most residents grow maize on their land. There was no tarmac road to the hill.

But a section on the foot of the hill has fenced undeveloped land, which Mr Abdalla said had been bought by visitors years ago, with prospects of the area being a "gold mine."

“This area has always had a huge interest from both local and international investors. One thing they have failed to do is to consider us locals who protect this hill and largely depend on it,” added Mr Abdalla.

The residents said they were shocked that the government intended to conduct a feasibility study without their knowledge.

Masoud Mwarizo, a Kaya elder, said that the locals want to be put at the forefront of decision-making about the hill, considering it could disrupt their livelihood.

“Whatever takes place here, let us be involved because that will also determine the level of development. From the feasibility study to the exploitation, we do not want to be ignored,” said Mr Mwarizo.

Kwale leaders promised to continue protecting the interests of the locals.

In a past event, Kwale Governor Fatuma Achani said no mining will be allowed without an assurance that locals will benefit.

“If I wanted minerals to be exploited here, that would have happened in 2013, but I want to promise you that there will be no mining in Dzombo,” she said.

In the neighbouring Kilifi County, an expected multi-billion titanium mining project in the Nyari sub-location in the Ganze Sub-county has faced opposition after residents and a section of leaders questioned the motive behind the push by the national government.

This is after the government disclosed that it had issued a Chinese company a prospecting license.

The treasurer of Nyari Community Based Organisation, Ms Agnes Lugho, faulted the county and national government for failing to stand with the vulnerable locals.

“We have all along opposed mining of titanium and that if it is a must for the investor to invest in our area, then there should never be exploitation. Shockingly and confusing is that the national government has licensed the company to prospect for titanium without listening to our concerns first,” she said.

A section of Ganze leaders led by the speaker of the County Assembly, Mr Teddy Mwambire, said they would block any move by the government to compromise the community to accept the mining of titanium in the area without addressing key concerns on land and other benefits.

“The residents have a right to speak and have their voice heard if they feel things are not right. Minerals do not expire, and we can still have the project after ten years until everything is in order. Unfortunately, the meetings are in conference rooms and hotels rather than in the grassroots where the real people who are supposed to be informed are based," he said.

Ganze Member of Parliament Kenneth Kazungu said despite the county having several mineral deposits, the community was still poor following exploitation from investors.

Speaking in Kilifi, Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya assured the community that the government would protect them against exploitation.

"The government has only issued the investors with a prospecting licence and the exercise would take three years before they are licensed to mine," he said.

At an earlier event in Kwale, the CS said there were new reforms in the mining sector after lifting the moratorium and would want every investor and investment to benefit the people of Kenya.

He added that he was willing to engage residents if they approached him with any concerns.

[email protected]

[email protected]