The government will use small-scale mining cooperatives to supply construction materials for the affordable housing projects across the country.
Mining Principal Secretary (PS) Elijah Mwangi said that his department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Housing Department for the miners to provide over 60 percent of the materials required for the projects.
Speaking in Murang’a County on Wednesday, Mwangi said that for a long time, traders in the sector had been forgotten and did not have access to empowerment and funds to boost their businesses.
“By the end of the year, we will have formalized all the cooperatives so that they are able to supply construction materials for affordable housing projects in Murang’a and other parts of the country,” he said.
The cooperatives include those in quarrying and sand mining, granite and clay.
He said the move is in line with the government’s commitment to bringing small-scale miners together through cooperatives so that they benefit from various opportunities in government projects.
–By Amos Kerich
