PS Mining Joins CS Mining in Consultative Meeting With Kitui County Leadership
In pursuit of strengthening collaborative initiatives in the mining sector between the national and the county governments, today the PS Mining Elijah Mwangi joined Cabinet Secretary for Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs H.E. Salim Mvurya for an extensive consultative engagement with Kitui County leadership led by Governor Dr.Julius Malombe over modalities of enhancing and promoting mining operations in the region.
The meeting was also attended by MPs Hon Paul Nzengu, Mwingi North; Hon. Dr. Rachael Nyamai, Kitui South and Dr. Makali Mulu, Kitui Central. Members of County Assembly led by the Speaker and County Executive Committee Members were also present.
The highly interactive meeting attained milestone agreements including the establishment of a mineral laboratory to support mineral testing services for miners, strengthening surveillance and monitoring of mining operations to weed out illegal mining, harmonizing of programs to fast-track the reforms of mining regulatory framework and strengthening the benefit sharing for communities in the mining region.
The CS noted that Kitui, with her strategic mineral deposits including Coltan, Copper and Manganese was poised to take the center stage in the Kenya’s drive towards green energy transition.
He also urged the county government to set aside land for capital intensive investments by investors who had expressed interest to set up copper processing plant in the region.
He pointed out that the cleaning of the online mining cadastre was currently traveling ongoing to eject non-compliant mineral dealers from the system. This is part of the key reforms being undertaken to revamp this sector.
Governor Dr. Julius Malombe expressed his commitment to supporting the mining collaboration in a partnership that would promote sustainable mining in the region.
Stating that Kenya’s mineral resources had the vast potential to transform the economy, the MPs pledged to initiate conversations on how the sector can be further empowered through additional budgetary allocation for optimal exploitation of mineral resources.
Senior national government officials in the county led by the County Commissioner were also present.
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