Women gravel miners in the Kichukwa area of Lunga Lunga, Kwale County, have called on the government and non-governmental organizations to intervene and help them acquire better equipment at their worksite.
They also demand for a stable market for their products, a situation they say would transform their livelihoods and those of their families.
The women, who gather every morning at the gravel quarry, say they engage in the physically works to fend for their families’ basic needs, including food and school fees for their children, even as they contend with meagre earnings of just fifty shillings per bucket of gravel.
Mwanahawa Juma, one of the miners, said she joined the group after watching her peers engage in the activity and decided to try it too in order to earn income to buy daily household necessities for her family.
“I work in this gravel mine. When I sell, I get just enough to buy some few household items. If I get around Sh1000, I can buy flour, sugar, and take the children to school,” said Mwanahawa, adding that she carries out the work using rudimentary tools such as a sieve and a broom due to a lack of proper equipment.
Her colleague Mwanahawa Bakari said that despite the gruelling nature of the work, the earnings they receive do not even cover basic needs, and appealed to stakeholders to lend a helping hand.
“Another challenge is that the work itself yields very little income. We do it only because of life’s hardships, we want to educate our children. If in the future organisations come to assist us, we would be able to pull ourselves out of poverty,” she said.
The group’s chairperson, Zaituni Mwatero, a mother of four, who also bears the responsibility of resolving disputes that arise among the members, said she made the decision to join the mining activity after finding no other way to supplement her family’s income.
“I saw there was no other work to do, and I am a person with my health and strength. We have come together as women to form a group to support the upbringing of our children,” said Mwatero.
Mwatero identified two key challenges facing the group: the absence of a stable market and price competition among the miners themselves, which often forces them to sell at very low prices when pressed by personal financial hardship.
“The big difference comes down to the vehicles. When they arrive, one colleague wants this price, another wants a different price. If you refuse, there is another colleague whose situation is no better and she says bring the vehicle here,” she explained.
The chairperson also admitted that the group has no knowledge of mining laws that could protect small-scale miners and give them a greater opportunity to benefit from their resources.
The assistance they need most is protective equipment such as heavy-duty gloves, overalls, gumboots, shovels, and hammers, alongside access to better markets that would give fair value to their hard labour.
“I would be very grateful if equipment could be made available, because the work tears up our hands,” said Zaituni.
by Ramadhan Nassib
