'Seek education before getting into mining,' Dorcas Rigathi tells boys in Migori
The Spouse of the Deputy President Pastor
Dorcas Rigathi has led the certification of mining cooperatives in Migori
County.
Speaking at the Osiri Mining and Marketing
Cooperative Society office grounds in Nyatike, Pastor Dorcas urged the miners
to join in cooperatives to make it easier for them to work.
She also called on the miners to help in the
eradication of cases of child labour in the sector.
“I plead with my boychild of the school-going
ages to first seek education before getting into mining. We should also address
the cases of child labour in the mining sector,” she said.
Pastor Dorcas said the accreditation of the
miners is one way of ensuring that the miners benefit from their day-to-day
activities.
“There is a need for accreditation for
prior learning so that we can also handle cases of people who are Africans
where people just get the experience but have no licenses that can identify
them. Let us have a syllabus for our technical training so that we can equip
those in the mining sector,” she said.
She urged the youth to come up with
innovative ways that will safeguard the environment.
“I also urge you to join cooperatives so
that it can make it easier for your work. There will be an officer around who
will help you with the necessary documents.”
During the event, she issued licenses for
mineral processing, mining permits and safety gear to the miners.
The safety gear included gloves, reflectors
and headgear. She also handed over a vehicle that will be used for mining
services in the county of Migori.
The government is already setting up a gold
refinery centre in Kakamega as a way of adding value to the minerals.
Principal Secretary for Mining and Blue
Economy Elijah Mwangi said there has been progress in reforming the mining
sector under the Kenya Kwanza government.
“Mining is a business. We want people to
have licenses for business,” he said.
He added that a team has been set up to
camp for five days to ensure that those carrying out mining trading are given
an opportunity to make their applications. He added that the mining cadaster
has been opened for free to facilitate the licensing.
“I know there have been several officers
here, but we have been instructed that mining has to work this time round. We
want to ensure that the prices of any mineral are predictable for us to benefit
the miners,” he added.
PS Mwangi said that the process of
decriminalizing artisanal mining has already kicked off strict timelines from
President William Ruto.
He said that the ministry of ministry is
also working towards the formalization of marketing cooperatives with 246
cooperatives already formalized,23 being from Migori County.
According to the chairman of the miners in
Migori County Kepha Ochuka, the certification is the much-needed documentation
for the artisanal and small-scale miners. He said the certification will go
beyond Migori County.
“This will not just benefit the miners in
Migori County but will go beyond the county. In Migori County we have more than
30 registered cooperatives. We wish to remind the stakeholders that there is
nothing in mining without miners,” he said.
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