KISUMU, Kenya, Feb 24 – Three artisanal miners died in a gold mine Sunday evening in Gem, Rera village, Siaya County.
The wall caved in, while they were inside and got trapped for hours.
By the time, the rescuers got to them, they were already dead.
All the three were pulled out and preserved at the Siaya County referral hospital mortuary pending postmortem examinations.
Leaders, including Siaya Governor and Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo, rushed to the scene to join the rescuers.
Orengo urged the miners to always consider their safety first during the gold mining activities.
“I join the families of those who have lost their loved ones, we grieve together,” he said.
Orengo, however, faulted the government for failing to implement polices aimed at uplifting the lives of the miners.
He says the Constitution is explicit on the economic benefits the artisanal miners should get from their sweat.
“They work hard to extract these minerals but gain totally nothing as proceeds are passed to investors, some even are foreigners,” he said.
The Governor urged the government to be firm and implement laws that govern the extraction of minerals for the benefit of its people.
“It is sad that even in times of rescue mission, it is again us which must run around to look for an excavator while those who are benefiting from these minerals are doing totally nothing,” he said.
Otiende noted that it is a similar frustrations artisanal miners face in his Constituency.
He says losing the lives of young people in the mine fields is unfortunate.
“In Rarieda, we’re losing young people in a similar event and it’s time, the government stops this by ensuring safety is uphold,” he said.
He says in the recent past, he had talked to the Cabinet Secretary for mining Hassan Joho to ensure safety prevails in the fields.
