- The government had ordered an immediate ban on unlicensed mining activities in the area.
- This was for, among other measures, an environmental audit.
Image: COURTESY
At least three people were killed and eight injured in a fight between groups over the control of a gold mine site in Marsabit County.
The Orofani Hilo gold mining is near Kenya-Ethiopia and is among many sites that have attracted a huge number of youths who are scavenging for the mineral for a living.
This has caused tension among groups seeking to control the sites with no help from the local authorities.
Officials say the sites have deposits that produce gold worth millions of shillings annually. The minerals are later processed for sale.
The Sunday and Monday skirmishes are the latest in a series that have affected the sites in the area amid calls on authorities to intervene and address the same.
Police said the chaos broke out after a group of miners found a shallow grave at the site and on excavating it, they found a body of one of them who had been missing.
According to police, this prompted one group to target another group of miners in the area accusing them of killing the one who was found buried in the shallow grave.
In the process, according to police, two miners were stoned to death while eight others sustained serious injuries.
A team of police officers rushed to the scene after the Monday, March 11 skirmishes and contained the violence.
They found the bodies lying at the site while the injured were rushed to hospital.
Police said the victims are in stable condition amid tension of retaliation from the other affected group.
More police officers were sent to the area to ensure the safety of all amid considerations to close the sites for a while. The area has deposits of gold, which miners venture to excavate even with poor conditions.
Some of the miners are killed when the walls of the sites collapse.
This came as questions emerged as to why the activities, that have created jobs for thousands of young people, remained unregulated with miners working until late in the night which put their lives at risk.
The government had ordered an immediate ban on unlicensed mining activities in the area.
This was for, among other measures, an environmental audit.
This was after it emerged the miners were using heavy machines to crush stones in their artisanal activities, overlooking the environmental impact.
Officials directed those involved in the mining activities to stop operations as the National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) conducts an environmental impact assessment to give the ecological guidelines before mining operations can resume.
Gold miners were directed to seek licences from all the relevant government authorities before embarking on the work.