Despair as residents feel the pinch of fluorspar firm’s exit

The chickens are coming home to roost on Kerio Valley residents who used to complain about pollution and dispossession of land by a company that has since closed down.

Two years after Kenya Fluorspar Mining Company (KFC) halted operations at Kerio Valley in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, thousands of locals are now feeling the gap left by the firm’s exit.

The company exited the county over what it termed “depressed demand and prices of fluoride in the global market leading to losses”.

But its closure has spelled doom for residents because the firm offered them an economic lifeline through several programmes. The outgoing management had its land lease expire in March 2018, and announced its exit when the Government did not renew the lease, pushing the residents into further despair.

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.

“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,” states the report.

Also worst hit are education and health sectors which the company independently 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.

The primary schools that benefited include Sesia, Kimwarer, Chemoibon and Chop and Kocholwo Secondary School.

At Fluorspar Primary School, one of the top performers in the county and also the best equipped learning institutions, anxiety has gripped parents, teachers and learners as they ponder their next move, following the firm’s closure.

Continued support

“We must appreciate the company’s management for continued support of the school despite being out of business for the last two years. Some of our learners had to be counselled when their parents, who were company employees, were declared redundant,” says Caroline Koskei, the school head.

Mrs Koskei says in 2017 the company, cognizant of the hard economic challenges occasioned by its closure, offered a scholarship programme to all the pupils.

“The economic impact has been huge on the community because in 2018 the outgoing company management decided to pay 80 per cent of fees while parents were to foot the rest. But the majority cannot raise the amount and pupils are transferring to neighbouring schools,” she says.

Mrs Koskei says the company has awarded scholarships to secondary and tertiary education to several students from needy backgrounds. In addition, the company has fully 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 $238,095 besides sponsoring patients for specialised medical care outside the country as well as supporting HIV/Aids awareness campaigns.

“With access to affordable healthcare being a challenge to many residents, KFC has invested Sh82 million in equipping and running health facilities as well as providing free medication between 2013 and 2017,” says the Lotus Consulting firm report.

When the Sunday Standard visited the hospital, normal operations were ongoing despite electricity being cut off due to unpaid bills.

“We are in a transitional period and as a county government, we shall take up the medical facility. All staff working under it will be absorbed by my administration and we shall supply it with medical supplies,” says Elgeyo-Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos.

He assured residents that the facility will be fully operational and offer quality services as it previously did, saying there was no cause for alarm.

At Kimwarer trading centre, which relied heavily on the company’s employees as their clientele, only a few shops are operational and the area is desolate.

Lack of jobs

Hundreds of lorries that ferried the mineral are parked for lack of jobs, with hardware stalls and garages closed.

“We do not know how we will service the loans we took to buy the vehicles and we fear our livelihoods will slip back to obscurity as before,” says Musa Wendot, the transporters association chairman.

“The company offered us a lifeline but the closure means we might relocate to other areas or venture into other businesses.”

Other trading centres affected by the firm’s closure include Kabokbok, Muskut, Kalwal and Soy.

“Our businesses depended on this company to thrive because the workers were our main clientele. But now I sell half a bag of vegetables for three days unlike when the company was operational when I could sell a whole bag within hours,” says Judith Jerotich, a grocery vendor at Kimwarer trading centre.