Kenyan farmers threatened by Canadian mineral sands mine

Kenyan farmers threatened by Canadian mineral sands mine

Plans to increase coastal mineral sands mining (primarily for titanium) are gearing up in Africa and Asia, including Mozambique and the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Perhaps most immediately alarming is the project now under construction by Canadian company Tiomin on farmland in eastern Kenya.

Group Opposes 'Eviction' Over Mining Project

Ngumbao Kithi, The Nation (Nairobi)

September 27, 2004

As the titanium mining company prepares to move residents from two Kwale communities to Ramisi, a group of NGOs, has opposed the plan, terming it eviction.

The Coast Rights Forum has claimed in a statement the transfer was meant to suppress opposition to the mining project.

Chairman Mwambi Mwasaru said no serious consultations had been done over the plan and that the families had been coerced into moving.

Issues on compensation and benefits to the affected families had not been concluded, he said adding: "As a trustee of the land after the project is over, I can say that the Kwale County Council is still hazy on the issues involved and its role in the land rehabilitation process."

Other pending issues were the environmental impact and the cultural rights of the Digo, whose shrines would be destroyed in the mining.

He claimed the terms of reference for compensation had not been discussed with the people affected, and no legal contracts had been signed by the parties involved.

It was unfortunate that residents of Ramisi, the area targeted for resettlement of those displaced, had not been involved in discussions, although they were an interested party.

Mr Mshenga Ruga, a Ramisi councillor, said leaders had been ignored in the resettlement plan.

Mr Mwasaru said Ramisi was occupied by the Digo, who are officially classified as squatters, while most of those to be resettled there are from upcountry.

"Who deserves to be allocated the Ramisi land? Is it the Digo who have ancestral rights to it, or others who have been compensated for loss of their lands in Nguluku and Maumba? he asked.

Mr Mwasaru asked the Government to involve the National Environmental Management Authority and Kenya National Commission on Human Rights before allowing mining to start.

Meanwhile, atraditional blessing ceremony to pave way for the shifting of 1,500 families from the titanium mining zone will be held tomorrow.

It has been organised by the miners, Tiomin Kenya, and will be held at Duncan Ndegwa primary school in Kwale.

The families are expected to officially hand over their homes for the start of the mining project, at the occasion that will also be marked by feasting.

The firm's officials led by its president J. C. Potvin are expected to conduct the event.