The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media
platforms spanning newspaper print
operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The
Standard Group is recognized as a
leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and
international interest.
The lengths to which miners can go to protect their precious stones can shock front-pew Christians.
One female miner in Voi had no qualms stripping her workers naked and inserting her fingers into their private parts to search for any hidden gemstones.
There are also strange stories which border on the realm of supernatural.
“Some miners are believed to sacrifice their workers who are killed by collapsing mines. After that, gemstones worth millions of shillings are struck,” says Kisilu, a gemstone trader from Kamtonga mines.
Mama Wanjiru, the proprietor of Baraka Mines at Kambanga in Mwatate says that though she is not a pauper per se, her business has taken a serious beating, especially over her failing health.
“Biashara sio nzuri sana (Business is not doing well at all),” says the 80-year old. She says some people think she is mentally disturbed because of her collapsing mining venture.
Mama Wanjiru has been mining for over 30 years and says there is a need for both County and National governments to create incentives to shore up small scale miners who cannot afford expensive equipment needed.
There are slightly over 400 types of precious and semi-precious gemstones in the county, with the most common and highly prized being rubies, Tsavorites, red and green garnets, rodolites and blue sapphires.
Conservative estimates indicate that the minerals can fetch over Sh20 billion for the county annually, according to the Taita- Taveta Integrated Strategic Plan anchored in the Transform Taita -Taveta (2020) blueprint.
Not everyone in the mining industry wastes his fortunes though.
Justine Ndeke, a gemstone dealer told The Nairobian that while most of the miners and gemstone dealers waste their earnings on debauchery and creature comforts, “there are those who have been quite enterprising and have established thriving businesses, both in Taita Taveta County and outside”.
Justine Ndeke, a teetotaler who has been mining in Mwatate for 36 years, says he has struggled to put up a middle-class residential house in the town, besides running a hardware shop and public transport vehicles.
Raymond Mwangola, an MCA and gemstone trader for 20 years, mines from Mkuki Ranch. He says though he sells some of the gemstones locally, the best prices are in Arusha, Tanzania.
“I once made a one-off sale of green garnets worth sh1.2 million,” says Mwangola. He explains that he used the windfall to expand his mining business.
