Families feel the pinch of fluorspar miner’s closure

Lorries rusting away at Kimwarer trading centre in Kerio valley following the closure of Kenya fluorspar mining company. (Fred Kibor, Standard)

Three years after the Kenya Fluorspar Mining Company halted operations at Kerio Valley in Elgeyo Marakwet, thousands of locals are now feeling the vacuum left by the firm’s exit.

The company terminated operations over what it termed as “depressed demand and prices of fluoride in the global market”.

Its closure has spelt doom for residents of Kerio Valley where the firm was an economic lifeline to the area.

More than 4,000 residents depended on it for a living. Fluorspar, as it is referred to here, provided jobs to locals, markets for their agricultural products and played a key role in improving social amenities among others.

During a recent tour of the area, Sunday Standard found locals struggling to find alternative sources of income. We witnessed auctioneers towing away lorries to recover unserviced loans. Men now hawk firewood to service loans from micro-finance lending institutions.

“Our businesses entirely depended on the company because its workers were our main clientele. But now, more than 95 per cent of traders have closed shop. I was a vegetable trader but have since changed to hawking food to the few boda boda operators in the area. The government should know we are in a bad situation,” said Judith Jerotich at Kimwarer trading centre.

Many small-scale traders like her were the hardest hit by fluorspar’s closure as they had borrowed loans to start their businesses.

“Many people are losing the property they used as collateral to secure loans. Auctioneers have pitched camp in the area,” said Jerotich.

Another trader, Anne Jelagat, said business has been dwindling by the day and few people still pass by her restaurant.

Dire situation

“When the company was in operation, I would sell more than 20 chicken in a day. Nowadays, I rarely sell any. The situation is bad and the government should know the peasant families are worst hit by the closure of the company,” she says.

“There were more than 10 butcheries at the centre. At the moment, there are only two who have, from time to time, had to throw away meat for lack of customers. There is no business around this region.”

According to a study by Lotus Consulting firm titled ‘The Economic and Social Impact of Fluorspar Mining in Kenya’, the company’s operations directly employed approximately 600 staff in 2015, who earned about Sh160 million in wages annually.

“Indirectly and via induced spending, every 10 jobs at Kenya Fluorspar Company supported 210 jobs elsewhere in the Kenyan economy. In 2015, the company supported an additional 12,664 jobs. This indicates an overall employment multiplier of 22,” the report says.

Also hit are education and health sectors, which the company supported through provision of quality and affordable services.

Between 2013 and 2015, the company spent about Sh100 million in building school dormitories, classrooms, administration blocks and libraries, besides undertaking upgrades and repairs in others.

Schools that benefited include Sesia, Kimwarer, Chemoibon and Chop and Kocholwo. The firm was also involved in improving roads around the valley and providing water to surrounding residents.

The firm awarded scholarships to poor students in secondary and tertiary education. It also sponsored 20 top students from the area to universities in the US under the Kenya Scholar-Athlete Project (KENSAP) programme.

In 2012, the company built a new community health clinic at a cost of Sh24.2 million and sponsored patients for specialised medical care abroad as well as supported HIV/Aids awareness campaigns.

Now, bushes have engulfed the once well manicured lawns at the company offices,. Majority of the staff quarters are empty. 

Locals are demanding compensation even as the government seeks another investor to open the firm. The Mining ministry has sent several staff to manage assets at the firm but they were not there when we visited the premise.