Mining is big issue! First it must be done on land; which land in the context of the Coast has all along had controversies. Communities confide that for mineral lands the controversies are deliberate and well calculated; foreign companies procure the mining rights; the locals in these areas are the least important and as country a lot is forced down our throats in the name of concessions. These among many other reasons makes mining a very potent problem that cannot just be wished away. Secondly mining leaves in its wake complex

problems; the quarries that are left open for donkey years and the dangers posed by the same to human and animal life; the pollution in to the skies, waters and direct in to homes when the processing is on; the blasting of the earth when extracting and the subsequent forced movement of the people trying to live a life. It gets ugly when the process is localized or when the foreigners seek fronts to enable them operate without hindrances, another level of exploitation is created and this time one that is so close to ourselves, we become exploiters of each other. Ujamaa has been focusing on this problem from the two lenses:

These are found all over Kilifi and Kwale districts and they come in many forms; one they tend to deal with the basic building/construction material that is coral blocks, sand, ballast and hardcore; they also come in terms of transporters of the same product that they procure from the local poor peasant whose work may either be doing the dig or leasing the piece of land where the mining must happen. It is in this depth that we find the injustices that are both perturbing and chilling; first due to the cruelty of the practice and two for the simple reasons of profit we actually loose that human value in ourselves. The danger; people keep losing land that should otherwise be more valuable in terms of ensuring food and income security to very loose arrangements that are so geared to oppression than socio economic grading.

The coast region happens to be home to several minerals that continue to attract the interest of multinational mining companies. The titanium mining company Tiomin has been locked in a dispute with the community of Kwale for 10 years now following consistent opposition to their entry in this area without following the due process as issues of land compensation, environment impact assessment, benefits to locals were not clarified. Bamburi Cement is another multinational. On the local scene there are independent mining companies such as Athi-River mining. The question of mining does carry with it a lot of psychological, academic and economic burden especially to the people who live in the areas where mining is conducted.

The environmental effects of mining cement, in Kambe has led to the death of coconut trees; there is statistical evidence that the dust from the same process causes chest complications; the death of Mbwaka river is as a result of these activities;

The income generated does not benefit the community directly or even indirectly as their lifestyle has never improved and so who does it benefit;

The open quarries left behind are an eyesore and constant reminder that some resources did leave the area;

Then there is the big question that no one wants to answer who owns this land where mining has to be done? The point of departure is where the government has continued to support investment without considering the complete social economic cycle from the layman’s perspective.

Therefore the issue generates a lot of bad blood between the people (communities), the investors and the Government. While the government continues to support the investors’ ambitions (note the recently enacted bill of procurement and investment by parliament) it has chosen to assume the potent question of what would be the wish of the citizens. The dangers of food security must be a question that must be answered because the income generated from these endeavours does not fill the gap left by the alternative land use that is mining.
"The injustices are morally engineered, as the physical cannot survive without the foundations set forth by the academic arguments of profit and employment. People die out of health and hunger complications while the authorities just watch, but still profits leave the country and Kenyans continue to live in squalor conditions".