A man on the run: I survived death twice, they still want to kill me

Philip Cheruiyot head of security at Bridges mining explorations camp in Taita Taveta county. This was 14/4/2017.Photo by Edward Kiplimo.

Every day, dozens of young men get into buses from different parts of the country and willingly walk into an uncertain future. Banking on nothing but hope and good luck, they disappear into the brown hills of Taita Taveta, trusting that the work of their hands will, at the end, justify their move. Kenya’s mining industry employs thousands of people, at least officially. But those in the sector say the number could be much higher because of the lose regulations around the sector. And these undocumented workers are the ones who bear the harshest of conditions, trying to pry lose earth’s treasures.

People have struck it rich, moving from grass to grace in an instant. While others have toiled for decades, some to their deaths before striking it rich.