The silent woes affecting local miners

By PASCAL MWANDAMBO

Among the most contentious issues surrounding the mining sector in the country include workers rights such as payments and working conditions.

Hundreds of mine workers die or suffer injuries when mining pits collapse. Some inhale dangerous fumes in the belly of the earth, but most mining firms refuse to compensate for injuries.

Majority of the workers are not provided with protective clothing and helmets. Speaking during a thanksgiving party for elected leaders in Voi, Taita-Taveta Women Rep Joyce Lay raised a red flag over the abuse of female miners in Kasigau location. She alleged  that they were being stripped naked by the miner to search for stolen gems stashed in their private parts.

Another miner is reported to gauge the suitability of mine workers by locking them in the boot of his car and driving them round the vast mine for hours. That usually passes as  the interview.

Coupled with this has been tax evasion by some mining companies.  While some firms have been doing actual mining for decades, they still operate on prospecting licences, thereby denying both the county and national governments much needed revenues.

In some cases “ghost” mining companies piggyback on other genuine companies to extract and export minerals without paying the required taxes.

It has also emerged that some dealers in gemstones, especially from Asian countries have been entering the country with tourist visas but with motives of dealing in minerals which they spirit out of the country illegally.

The illicit business is usually transacted in tourist hotels and lodges.