Call to miners to join cooperatives

Embu,

Thursday, December 14, 2023

KNA by Steve Gatheru 

With more high value minerals being discovered around the country, the government wants artisanal miners to organise themselves into cooperatives so as to build their capacity to exploit them.

The Principal Secretary in the State Department for Mines, Elijah Mwangi, said gold has been discovered in new areas in Marsabit and Garissa, lithium, rare earths and coltan in Tharaka and Kitui and copper in Kitui.

“Some minerals are strategic and will gain more value as the world transitions to green energy and it is the government's intention to build local miners capacity to mine them instead of leaving them to multinational investors,” he said.

Mwangi was speaking at the Kenya School of Government Embu Campus when he launched a capacity building training programme for miners’ cooperatives members.

He urged all miners to join cooperatives saying being in cooperatives would not only enable them to negotiate for better prices for their mine yields.

He added that the cooperatives will be the focal point for any Government assistance to the miners but would also provide a forum to share ideas and lobby.

We would like you to be organised so that the government can even guarantee you to get financing for purchasing necessary equipment, Mwangi said.

He said the government had decided to decriminalize artisanal mining so that small miners can formalize their businesses and contribute more to the economy. 

He said the government was aware that artisanal miners only got about 30 per cent of the actual value of their mineral finds and said they will be building regional quality labs where the miners can have their minerals tested for quality so that they can get their full value. 

"As I launch this program, I want to challenge you to start thinking of how you are going to grow your businesses,” he said.

The PS said prospecting concessions are reviewed every three years and small miners should not be deterred by the fact that larger prospectors had already pegged most of the areas. 

Courtesy; KNA