A section of Gem residents have vowed to stop a mining company from forcefully evicting them from their ancestral land in order to pave way for the extraction of gold.
Through a Community Based Citizen Forum, the residents accused the ministry of mining and local leaders of coercing them into leaving their ancestral land without proper sensitization and citizen participation.
Led by the forum patron Abala Wanga, the residents said no amount of intimidation and coercion would make them surrender their lands.
Wanga urged the government to ensure that the community benefits more from its resources instead of displacing them.
“If well trained and endowed, the local community can handle the mining; processing and sale of the mineral,” he argued, further calling upon all investors to lay bare the estimated value of the gold in the area and how the community will benefit.
He said that the Forum had hired lawyers to file petition in court to halt mining in the area until proper negotiations were held.
Wanga called on the local leaders to stop being misused to advance the investors’ agenda by coercing and threatening locals to surrender their land parcels in exchange of money.
Recently, a meeting between representatives of Shanta Gold Limited and the community held at the Ramula Health Centre grounds ended in disarray after the residents refused to be relocated to pave the way for the mining.
Siaya County Commissioner Jimi Njoka said he is not aware of such a venture and urged residents to visit his office in order for him to take up the matter.
By Fredrick Odiero
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