Issuing of mining licences to re-start in November

By MACHARIA KAMAU

The Ministry of Mining will resume issuing licences to firms seeking to prospect or do actual mineral mining works in the country towards end of this year.

The ministry had suspended the issuing of licences in August as it sought to make the process, which was previously subject to abuse, watertight.

Cabinet Secretary for Mining Najib Balala said the ministry is currently working on an automated platform that would eliminate the numerous loopholes that gave corrupt officials a leeway to abuse the process and issue licences irregularly. He also said the firms whose mining licences had been revoked in August this year will know their fate by end of November.

Balala said last week the ministry is evaluating a report by a task force that was looking into the licences issued between January and May that he had revoked.

The ministerial task force on the review of prospecting, exploration and mining licences and agreements was constituted after he revoked over 40 licences held by different mining firms.

“We are automating the process of acquiring licences and by end year we should be able to resume issuing of licences,” Balala told a mining business and investments conference last week.

Give a verdict

He said the ministry is also looking into the report by the task force and should be able to give a verdict by the end of November. The task force issued its report two weeks ago. It said issuing of licences between January and May had been irregular and in gross violation of the law.

The task force chaired by lawyer Mohammed Nyaoga found out that licences were issued to brief case companies that did not have the capacity to undertake the actual work.

 Some had also not even been incorporated, leading to the conclusion that some of the companies had acquired the licences for the purposes of speculation.