Four die in gold search tragedy

By Osinde Obare

Four family members were buried alive in a gold mine in a remote village in Sook division, West Pokot County.

Gold prospecting turned tragic when the mine’s walls collapsed on the victims, among them a man and his wife.

Pomokou Titim, 60, and his wife Cheposukok were killed in the Sunday evening.

West Pokot OCPD David Wambua said they received the news on Wednesday but could not access the village due to the poor terrain.

"It is true four people were killed as they prospected for gold but we have not visited the scene," Wambua told The Standard.

One person was pulled out alive after two days by rescuers.

"Many people in the area are starving and engage in risk mining activities to get money for food," said Teresa Lokichu, a leader in the area.

She asked the Government to supply relief food.

Apart from Ikolomani gold fields, there is small-scale gold mining in West-Pokot District and parts of southern Nyanza.

However, the fields are not viable for commercial mining and the Government has no interest in them.

In West-Pokot, gold mining activities are in the Turkwel and Kerio rivers, which flow into Lake Turkana. In West-Pokot, women and children also take part in mining activities.

This offers an alternative economic activity to livestock.

Last year, major gold deposits were discovered in in parts of Migori and Narok counties. The discovery in is small scale but economically viable.

In October, the Government geologist in charge of Nyanza, John Waita, said the gold deposits could support large-scale mining for up to15 years.

Then, he revealed that companies prospecting for the mineral in the counties are in the ‘preparation phase’ for extracting the gold.