Inside bloody, illegal multi-million sand business in Makueni

A man fetches water from a section of Kaloku River reclaimed from sand harvesting. A section of the river has dried but residents are grateful for the reclaimed section because they can get water.

Like poisonous snakes that use their lethal venom to subdue their prey for food and ward off enemies, the Akamba people of South Eastern Kenya have traditionally used poisoned arrows for food and self-defence.

But the slender sticks steeped with death are now being used as scare and killing tools for totally different reasons; illegal exploitation of the region’s white gold by people hungry for cheap money.