Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has ordered the immediate closure of all illegal artisanal mining activities and unlicensed commercial mining operations in Migori County due to grave public safety risks.
The directive comes after two Kenyans tragically lost their lives last week when a mining shaft collapsed at an illegal artisanal site in Nyatike, with four others dying in a similar incident two months ago in Sango.
In a statement posted on his Facebook page early Monday, Kindiki said the Migori County Security and Intelligence Committee (CSIC) has been instructed to “enforce this directive immediately” to halt the dangerous illegal mining. He stressed the need for any artisanal mining to meet proper “public safety and environmental standards.”
“Small-scale illegal artisanal mining sites in Migori County pose grave public safety risks resulting in deaths when mine shafts cave in,” Kindiki stated. “To ensure regularized artisanal mining that meets public safety and environmental standards, the Government has ordered the closure of all artisanal mining activities as well as unlicensed commercial mining.”
The cabinet secretary also commended the Migori CSIC for its efforts in the government’s “ongoing Nationwide enforcement program against illicit alcohol, narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.”
He revealed that so far in Migori, authorities have seized 3,000 rolls of bhang (cannabis), arrested 106 suspects, conducted 378 raids on illicit alcohol operations, and closed seven chemists and five agrovet stores.
In addition to the mining and drug crackdowns, Kindiki directed the Migori CSIC to coordinate with its counterpart in neighboring Narok County to resolve land disputes and livestock theft issues in the Ntimaru sub-county area along the counties’ border.
The firm action comes as the Kenyan government increasily cracks down on illegal mining, which has led to scores of deaths in recent years due to hazardous conditions at unlicensed and unregulated mining sites. Both small-scale artisanal miners and larger commercial operations are being targeted if they lack proper licensing and safety standards.
