Relief for teachers in Chemase as gold company rolls out housing program

Teachers in schools neighbouring Karebe gold mining company in Nandi have benefited from a multi-million staff quarters housing program.

The program aims at ensuring high school teachers around the mining area are housed within the compounds of their respective institutions in areas within the Chemelil and Chemase areas.

Several schools among them Kapsigilai Girls’, Chemase High School and Kamuny’ secondary school have so far benefited from the firm’s program.

Karebe Mining Company spokesperson Albert Kipruto said the firm intends to ensure that teachers benefit from the serene environment the firm has created in the institutions.

“Karebe mining company has ensured that all the schools have clean piped water, electricity connection and good road network connection to all the schools in the area hence the reason to ensure that teachers remain in school for maximum production,” Kipruto said.

The construction of staff houses came in the wake of a facelift the firm gave Kamuny Secondary School by constructing classrooms and an administration block.

The firm's spokesman said Karebe Mining Company had geared its activities to benefit the local community in Education, health and sports apart from providing employment.

“The community around the mining area are happy with the company's move to focus on education so that the institutions around can produce future professionals who could be experts in various fields in the future,” Kipruto said.

Nandi County Director of Education Martin Muriuki hailed the company for the move and asked other investors to help the schools in areas they operate from.

“Teachers travel far and spend so much money travelling to and from schools and the best measure to address time wasting is to construct staff quarters within school compounds,” Muriuki said.

In January 2024, Karebe Mining Company launched an irrigation program for small-scale farmers in Chemase to produce horticulture produce for commercial purposes.

In the 2023 tree planting season, the company distributed over 20,000 seedlings to be planted in schools around the Chemase area in support of President William Ruto's plan to turn the country green and combat climate change.