Miserable lives of poor village gold diggers in Kakamega

Gabriel Alusiola in a goldmine at Lirhembe in Ikolomani, Kakamega county, his family is languishing in poverty. [Photo: DUNCAN OCHOLLA/Standard]

Every day, 28-year-old Gabriel Alusola of Lirhembe village in Kakamega County is sure he will touch gold; the real metal, one of the most expensive and rare commodities in the world.

In fact, Mr Alusola says he has probably held more gold than some of the richest people in the world. He is a gold digger. He knows what a glimmer of yellowness on soil means — he has internalised the smell of raw gold, and his eyes can instinctively pick out specks of it from a heap of sand.