Contract now specifies key benefits for residents in coal mining project

Kenya: Residents of the Mui coal basin are set to benefit from a raft of proposals that will be included as an addendum to the coal mining contract awarded to a Chinese firm, and which was signed in December last year. Just after the signing of the contract, there was an outcry from the locals that the deal  did not adequately address their interests. This prompted selection of a technical committee to re-look it and make proposed amendments. The feeling by the technical committee, which drafted the proposed amendments to the Benefits Sharing Agreement (BSA) to cater for the interests of the community in the mining deal, is that Fenxi has adopted more than 90 per cent of the proposed amendments.

The technical committee of 12 people was chaired by Kitui Senator David Musila, drawing members from the community's liaison committee, the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum and Kitui County Government.