A coalition of civil society groups has called for an immediate halt to gold prospecting and mining operations in parts of Kakamega, Vihiga and Siaya counties due to alleged flawed land acquisition procedures.
The civil society groups operating under Haki Madini Kenya said a high-level fact-finding mission in the three counties revealed a grave situation within the affected communities, with no evidence that free, prior and informed consent was obtained from the affected person.
Addressing the media at Munungo village at the border of Vihiga and Siaya counties after a public meeting with some of the affected persons, the officials led by the Chief executive officer of the Inuka Kenya ni Sisi CSO said there were serious concerns regarding the integrity of the consent process.
“Cases where consent was obtained fraudulently, including instances where documents bearing the names of deceased persons were signed for long after the persons died have emerged, hence raising questions on the integrity of the exercise,” read a statement by the CSOs.
The Haki Madini Coalition, which includes the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), Community Initiative Action Group (CIAG) and Transparency International Kenya, warned of a “grave situation” unfolding in the affected counties, adding that the mining project is being pushed forward through systematic intimidation of local communities and the misuse of the criminal justice system.
A widow from Ramula in Siaya, Julia Okwaro, lamented that her deceased husband’s name was used to fraudulently get a greenlight to mine on their ancestral land.
Okwaro, who said her husband died many years ago, wondered how the deceased rose from the dead, appended his signature to assent to the mining activity and later returned back to the grave.
“He died a long time ago. We are in trouble. Our children are being beaten, and there is nowhere we are going. If I move, where will I go?” she posed.
The CSOs called on the law enforcement agencies to stop suppressing those raising legitimate concerns and uphold their constitutional mandate to protect citizens.
They lamented that the recent skirmishes at the Ramula trading centre, where two lives were lost at the hands of the police who fired at the demonstrators opposed to the mass relocation of people to pave the way for mining activities by the Shanta gold company were unfortunate.
The skirmishes saw the deployment of the dreaded General Service Unit (GSU), which, the CSO officials said, engages in communal punishment where everybody is beaten and harassed.
By Philip Onyango
