The Ministry of Mining has revoked the licences of 15 quarry operators in Kilifi County following non-compliance with mining regulations.
Speaking in Kilifi, the Mining Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho, who ordered the revocation, said that the companies were using mining permits instead of mining licences as required by the law.
Joho clarified that a company should have a green light from the community and the county government for it to be granted a mining licence.
"The first mistake that I have observed here is that people are using mining permits instead of mining licences, yet their operation is big. A mining licence will require one to sit down with the people and get an approval from them, which these companies are trying to avoid," he said.
"Today I have given an order that there is no one here who is supposed to have a mining permit; everybody must have a mining licence that has consent from the community and the county government," he added.
Speaking during the same event, the Mining Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai claimed that the ministry will also scrutinise other mining companies across the country to ensure compliance in the sector.
"It is good that we have started here because this is a county that I believe has so many minerals, and when we get out of here, we will also go to another county," he said.
On the other hand, the Kilifi County Governor, Gideon Mung'aro, asserted that the Kilifi County government will be keen to grant mining licences to companies that are fully compliant with the law and those that are beneficial to residents.
"We are working with CS Joho, and we have met quarry operators and Victoria Engineering is the only one that accepted to do us a road in Jaribuni, but the rest refused and hence we have stopped them because their operations are causing untold health sufferings,” he said.
The revocation of mining licences of these companies comes days after the Kisumu Governor Anyang' Nyong'o announced that unlawful miners, specifically those of building materials, will face stricter consequences in a bid to restore the environmental fitness of the county.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, March 25, the governor said that unlawful miners in the county will be apprehended, hit with heavy fines, and forced to restore the damaged areas.
The governor noted that mining of building commodities in the county should only be authorised by the Kisumu County government.
"Pollutant degraders of the environment will pay heavy fines. They will also be forced to restore the area damaged, and the culprits will be apprehended," the governor said.
