By Reporter
Kwale rights organizations under Kwale Mining Alliance and a section of mining-affected communities have cried foul over the newly launched post-mining land use committee.
The PMLU committee was unveiled in early May by the Mining CS Salim Mvurya to oversee the implementation of the mined land as the Australian Mining Company Base Titanium prepares to shut down operations.
The committee comprises 19 members headed by the Mining PS.
However, the group has declared the committee null and void, decrying that the national government failed to include a representative of the affected communities and civil society organizations in the PMLU committee.
The rights groups and the public also questioned the legal process of nominating the members.
The activists have since vowed to demonstrate if their demands are not met.
“We are going to hold peaceful demonstrations to express our dissatisfaction because there cannot be a committee where key players are left out,” said Mohammed Barrow, KMA officer.
Barroh claimed that the PMLU committee was unconstitutional since the affected communities were not fully involved in public participation.
The activist said it is surprising that some of the key players and community members got to hear of the committee through the media.
Barroh added that 80 per cent of the PMLU committee comprises government officials who are always busy and unaware of the challenges faced by the surrounding mining-affected persons.
“A huge per cent of the committee is overburdened with national and county government representatives who are constantly on the go and are unable to actively engage with ordinary citizens,” said Barroh.
He said it was unjust for the CS to exclude CSOs from the committee, given that rights organizations played an important role in reviewing the Lands and Mining Act and defending the rights of mining-affected communities.
Barroh said they will establish various oversight forums to scrutinize the formed PMLU committee and seek inclusion.
He made the remarks during a two-day forum on Post Mining Land Use at the Jacaranda Hotel in Diani.
The event brought together various stakeholders on environment and mining to offer views on PMLU.
Barroh noted with great concern that the majority of communities affected by mining activities are unaware of the PMLU process.
A local from Nguluku/Maumba Martin Musyoka said the PMLU committee is flawed because the community is not properly represented.
He stated that current members are unaware of the challenges that communities face and it would be hard for them to address their issues.
Musyoka said the committee should have started from the grassroots going up and not vice versa.
He said the PMLU committee should be dismantled and a new one formed where mining-affected communities would be well represented.
“I don’t think it is fair having a big number of government officials in the committee yet the locals are sidelined. What would they be discussing,” he said.
Musyoka said that only the communities understand where the shoe pains and what needs to be done.
He said selecting irrelevant members to represent their issues is injustice and must be strongly condemned.
Another local from Mrima Bwiti Swaleh Abdallah Mwabakari said they are displeased by the leaders for not involving them.
He said the termed the committee is illegal and that the community doesn’t recognize it.
Mwabakari stated that it is absurd that some people from other counties have been chosen to represent Kwale communities on issues confronting them.
“How can someone from Nairobi understand what we are going through? Interestingly, the affected people are not well represented,” he said.
Speaking at the Kenya School of Government in Matuga sub-county while unveiling the PMLU committe Mvurya said the committee forms an integral step in ensuring the public is involved in decision-making on the PMLU.
“We received many proposals from the community on what to do with mined-out land, so we formed a committee to streamline the process and ensure that the suggestions remain within the legal framework,” he said.
Mvurya said the committee will be collecting views from the public and various stakeholders and then write a report which will be converted into a cabinet memo and presented to the cabinet before a final decision is made.
The CS also assured the county government, affected communities, and all interested parties that their concerns would be heard and addressed fairly.
“We commit that the county, community and elected leadership will be well represented,” he said.
