The death toll in the Kakamega mining tragedy has risen to three after eight of the 12 victims trapped in a mining shaft after soil caved in on them were rescued alive.
The body of Mr Geofrey Eshikoto Alwanyi, 34, was retrieved from the 60-meter shaft on Friday evening following concerted efforts by his colleagues and rescue teams.
One person is still trapped in the tunnel three days after the mine in Ikolomani caved in. Rescue teams are still engaged in search efforts for the missing artisanal miner.
The county government of Kakamega has issued new directives on artisanal mining after Governor Fernandes Barasa called for an audit of the mining activities in the county.
He said the audit will facilitate deliberations between the county government and the Ministry of Mining on licensing of artisanal mining activities in the region.
The governor directed the county’s artisanal committee together with the disaster and multi-sectoral team to conduct audits on all artisanal mining activities in Ikolomani and Shinyalu sub-counties where mining activities have remained the main economic activities among the locals.
Mr Barasa further ordered multi-sectoral enforcement and compliance operations to ensure strict adherence to the directives issued by the county government.
Legal issues surround the licensing of artisanal mining with Mr Barasa calling for a proper framework that will bring up measures to ensure artisanal miners are sensitised and equipped to avoid accidents while working in the mines.
Kakamega has about 8,000 miners who are operating illegally, a situation that exposes human life and environment to danger due to rudimentary ways employed in the mining activities.
Many families have turned their farms into mining sites, with mines that are up to 150 feet deep, turning them into potential death traps for the artisanal miners.
Mr Barasa said the county government intends to gazette all the mining sites so that miners are licensed and regulated in their activities.
Condoling with the families that lost their loved ones and wishing those injured quick recovery, Mr Barasa said he could not stop mining activities in Shinyalu and Ikolomani because it is depended upon by more than 15,000 people as their major economic activity.
“My approach is to ensure that safety is enhanced and go further to commercialise mining so that the many young men and women can conduct mining in a safe environment,” he said.
The artisanal miners have called on the county government to incorporate them in the Rescue and Disaster Management department noting that the county was ill prepared in terms of human resource to intervene in the rescue of people trapped underground.
Mr Patrick Mukhule, the chairman of Kakamega Mining Resilient Team said despite mining benefiting the county in terms of revenue generated through levies, the miners were being given a raw deal.
“The efforts by local youth to rescue the 8 people and retrieve the bodies from the shafts indicates that they are able to work in the county’s disaster department. We want some of these youth to be employed by the county government as experts to help in rescue missions,” said Mr Mukhule.
