Taita Taveta iron ore project on track after decades of wrangles

Narendra Raval (Guru), Founder and Group Chairman of Devki Group of Companies. [File, Standard]

After years of false starts, the extraction of iron ore at the Kishushe in Taita Taveta County will now start after the Devki Group was issued with mining consent following an agreement with locals.

Devki Group chairman, Narendra Raval, said the construction of the Sh11 billion smelting plant at Manga in Voi town was almost complete ahead of the extraction of the mineral from the ranch.

On Saturday, Mr Raval, a steel and cement tycoon, appeared before the ranch shareholders, who unanimously gave him a nod to start extracting iron ore in the vast ranch for his plant.

“I am the only investor who has put up a Sh 11 billion investment in Taita Taveta County. Let us work together to remove poverty. I will employ locals and pay royalties as agreed," he said.

In recent years, the investor had been embroiled in a controversy over the acquisition of 14,500 acres of land at the over 60,000-acre ranch that is endowed with precious minerals.

Devki received community consent last year, before applying for a prospecting licence, but other firms, Archer Post and Universal Industrials, had also obtained proper consent earlier.

On Saturday, the Principal Secretary, Mining and Blue Economy, Harry Kimutai, Governor Andrew Mwadime, new County Commissioner Linda Okola, and MPs Danson Mwashako (Wundanyi), Peter Shake (Mwatate), and Abdi Chome (Voi) backed Devki's venture in the area.

Raval told the shareholders that the mega project will create wealth for poverty and unemployment eradication in the region. He promised to employ over 900 local youths.

Mr Kimutai said he had held a three-day consultative meeting with the new ranch managers in Nairobi last week that culminated in the agreement with the investor.

“I was instructed by the President to hold a consultative meeting between the landowners and the investor. I had negotiated on how the ranch and the investor can partner for the benefit of the locals who are in dire need of employment and development,” said the PS.

He said the investor must adhere to the local content. “The investor must comply and adhere to the local content when it comes to employment and supply of goods and services before he starts operations,” said the PS.

Kimutai said following the agreement and approval of the mining consent by landowners as required by law, the investor is now free to start extracting iron ore for his new steel plant in the region.

“The problem between the two parties has now been resolved, an agreement reached, and consent issued. The investor will plan and start work immediately. He can also ask for more land,” stated the PS.

He said the investor will now enter into a legal contract with the landowners to guide his operations and form the community development agreement committee (CDAC) as a requirement in line with the Mining Act, 2016. Kimutai said all the investors who have been issued with prospecting mining licences and consents by landowners must form their own CDAC.

Ms Okola said dialogue among investors and the local community is very important to help unlock the mining resource potential. “Dialogue is doing a lot of things and can unlock the possibilities,” stated the county commissioner.

The commissioner, however, noted that the number of women engaging in gemstone mining in the region was discouraging, and every effort should be made to encourage them to support the cooperative movement that forms the bulk of employment opportunities if fully harnessed for the benefit of the local community.

Other than Raval, other investors who have been issued with mining consents include Samrudha EA Limited, Archers Post, and Universal Explorers Limited, which will employ a combined workforce of over 4,350 workers in the extractive industry.

The Ranch chairperson, Matilda Walegwa, and her secretary, Wilfred Mwalimo, said shareholders have no wars with Raval. The officials said the only problem with the investor was that he was brought into the area by cartels.

“We did not have any wars with Guru. The problem was that he was brought to the ranch by cartels. Today, the investor has come to meet shareholders to be given a mining consent,” said Walegwa.

“Universal Explorers Limited, which was missing in the Ministry of Mining records, is now in the mining cadastre,” revealed Mwalimo.