Kakamega deputy governor Ayub Savula addressing mourners during the burial service for the late Mama Angelina Otunga at Itete in Matungu Sub-County on Saturday/IMAGE/HILTON OTENYOSome 63 people have been arrested in a police operation in Ikolomani, Kakamega County, following a fatal clash during a public participation event over gold mining activities in the area.
The clashes left at least four people dead and dozens injured, police said.
Ten people were arrested on Thursday, while 53 others, among them two MCAs, were arrested on Friday.
Residents opposed the plan and turned violent attacking police and National Environment Management Authority (Nema) officials on Thursday.
Most of those injured are still hospitalised.
Those arrested will be arraigned to face charges of assault, causing grievous harm and preparing to commit a felony.
A public participation forum organised Nema to discuss a proposed gold extraction project valued at about Sh680 billion by a private investor — Shanta Gold Company, turned chaotic when rowdy youth armed with crude weapons, blocked the road to Musali Mixed Day and Boarding Senior School, and attacked the convoy.
Several journalists were also injured in the clashes.
Residents say they oppose the project, warning it would displace around 800 families and strip them of their livelihoods.
From Isulu, the group marched to Musali Mixed Day and Boarding Senior School, the designated venue for the Nema public participation meeting.
Their anger was unleashed on chairs, books and shelves.
Police, who have launched investigations into the incident, say the protests appear to have been orchestrated by a criminal gang with specific targets in mind.
Ikolomani Deputy County Commissioner Geofrey Mayama said they are investigating the issue.
“Any sane person cannot go and destroy a school where children acquire knowledge. I think these are fellows with ill motive in the community and I want to assure the public we will pursue the perpetrators to the logical end and ensure they are brought to book.”
Two police officers who sustained serious injuries are being treated at Kakamega County General Teaching and Referral Hospital.
This came even as the county government of Kakamega asked Nema to suspend public participation on the proposed mining of gold discovered in Ikolomani.
Deputy Governor Ayub Savula said this would allow time for adequate consultations between national and county governments, the community and other stakeholders in the mining sector to come up with amicable solution to the crisis that has turned deadly.
Savula said the investor should come out and clear the air on which method the company intends to use in extraction of the mineral.
“If it involves displacement of the people, it must be handled with a lot of care because we are dealing with ancestral land which is an emotive issue,” Savula said.
“This does not mean that we are opposed to investment. We want investors to come in the open with all the cards on the table,” the deputy governor added.
Savula said residents of the proposed mining areas of Bushangala, Isulu and Shibuname should be allowed to negotiate their relocation directly if they are to be displaced.
The deputy governor claimed brokers were fuelling the confusion in the gold miming discourse.
The protesters also destroyed property worth millions after they stormed Imusali Secondary School and vandalised administration block before setting it on fire.
They were protesting against a meeting convened by Nema at Imusali Primary School for public participation on the proposed gold mining.
Western Regional police commander Issa Mohamoud said on Friday that the fracas was planned by politicians and executed by hired goons.
Savula dismissed the police version that the Thursday protests in Isulu were planned by local politicians.
“The protests were spontaneous because of the feeling by the people that their heritage is threatened. Let the police investigate and prosecute those found culpable but we know that the violence was not pre-planned,” he said.
