CS Balala appoints task force to investigate Taita Taveta mining controversy

Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala, has appointed an eight-member task force to investigate the controversy over ownership of the Kishushe mining site in Taita Taveta County.
Balala said in Mombasa on Sunday that the formation of the task force was occasioned by wrangles over the ownership of the area that had led to the suspension of iron ore mining at Kishushe area for the last three years.
It is not clear why the CS appointed the task force barely days after Taita Taveta Governor John Mruttu wrote to inform him that the said dispute had been resolved.
"I am pleased to inform you that the long standing confusion of the true boundaries of various land users in Kishushe area has finally been concluded. This is after a recent thorough effort by a committee that was carefully constituted by a resolution of the county political leaders," said the governor in a letter Balala dated June 10 this year seen by The Standard.
The Standard established that the county carried out a two-day survey to find out the location of Wanjala Mining vis-aviz Kishushe Ranch, Kishushe Adjudication Section and Oza Ranch.
Mr. Mruttu said in the letter that the survey department had also compiled and presented the overall picture of "real and imagined" boundaries within Kishushe.
Balala however now says the row would be investigated a fresh by a ministry appointed task force saying the standoff had hindered the extraction of the mineral and resulted in the drop of iron ore prices by over 150 percent.
"The prices of iron ore have dropped from a high of 200 dollars to a low of, on average 45 dollars. The Government is concerned that these disputes affect, not only the Kenya as a country, but also the people's livelihood," said Balala in a statement.
He said that task force would advise the ministry on issues surrounding mining at Kishushe area in Taita/Taveta County to enable him to make a decision.