Pastoralists and small-scale farmers in the North Rift region have turned to gold mining in the hope of turning around their fortunes.
Many youths have now abandoned cattle rustling and banditry for the precious metal.
Residents use hoes, axes, basins and other crude tools to extract the mineral, especially from rivers.
RUSTLING
Kichana said a drop in the number of cattle in the region has seen residents turn to mining gold for their livelihood instead of stealing livestock.
“Many , especially reformed cattle rustlers in West Pokot and Turkana counties, are now cashing in on gold quite literally. We sell the gold at Ortum market after getting it from miners at Muruny River in Marich,” he said.
A gramme, Kichana says, goes for Sh5,300 after buying it at Sh4,800 from miners.
EASY VENTURE
West Pokot Executive member for Trade, Industrialisation, Investment and Cooperative Development Francis Kitalawiyan urged residents to form cooperatives. Once organised, he said, the county will help them acquire equipment.
“I’m organising for a stakeholders forum to enable the miners to forge a way forward and borrow a leaf from other counties who have better practices and are getting value from the minerals. We will also help them [find] a market where they will sell the mineral at a better price and in a more organised manner,” Mr Kitalawiyan said.
He added that the middle men had exploited miners, and the county government is expected to told a meeting with the miners to sensitise them on the importance of forming cooperatives so that they get serious investors who will buy from them.
