Wednesday March 6, 2019
Quarry miners in Mandera have welcomed Deputy President William Ruto’s promise to ensure the ban on quarrying is lifted.
Chairman of Mandera Quarries Moses Munyiri yesterday told the Star closure of the quarries has hurt the county's economy.
“Hardware shops have closed. Lorry operators have parked their vehicles, lorry and matatu drivers have all been laid off due to lack of work. The flow of income has been brought to a near halt,” Munyiri said.
Ruto promised the Pastoralist Leadership Summit on Saturday that he would intervene and have the ban lifted.
“I assure you I will pick up the matter and see to it that it is resolved. It is not the government’s intention to sabotage the economy of its citizen,” Ruto said.
The quarries were closed in February last year following numerous al Shabaab attacks targeting nonlocal miners. Several of them were killed.
The closure forced hundreds of people to return to their home counties, many in Central Kenya since they were jobless and in danger.
Mandera Governor Ali Roba, Senator Mohamud Mohamed and other leaders had appealed to the DP to intervene and have the ban on quarrying lifted.
“Whenever I ask county commissioner Kutswa Olaka about reopening the mines, he tells me those were orders from above and there is little he can do about it,” Ali said.
“The suffering of our population must be a concern to our government, particularly where the only economic activity has now been brought to a grinding halt,” he said. The quarries employ hundreds of the local population either directly or indirectly.
Senator Mohamed said the number of unemployed youth has increased, posing a security risk and making the youth in vulnerable to recruitment by al Shabaab.
“We want to thank the DP in advance for hearing our cries and pleas. You can't imagine how much we have suffered as a population since the closure of the mines,” Munyiri said.
He said taxi operators who depended on the once-booming construction industry are unemployed.
The miners were an easy target for al Shabaab given the proximity of the quarries to the border with Somalia and their poor security