Gold rush: Residents accuse police of taking loot from site

Migori residents have accused police officers guarding Komire, a gold-rich area in Awendo Sub-County, of taking away the gold after chasing them away.

Their concerns come days after security personnel hurled teargas canisters to disperse crowds scrambling for rocks bearing the precious metal at a road construction site. They are also in the process of fencing the site where ores believed to contain gold were identified.

Migori County Secretary Oscar Olima said they can’t sit back and watch police exploit the gold deposits for their selfish gains.

According to Olima, the county government had warned the officers to concentrate on their work.

“They are only here to offer security. We can’t block people from collecting gold yet the police are doing the same,” Olima said.

Olima told the officers to stop digging gold from the site with immediate effect.

Residents discovered gold ores in the murram that a contractor building the Kisii-Rongo road had dug.

The discovery led to a scramble as hundreds of residents pitched tents at the site. The construction of the road stalled, prompting security agencies to intervene. Residents claimed that the officers were carting away the ores using police vehicles.

“It is unfair for police to chase us from the site and collect the gold themselves,” said a resident.

Lands Executive John Kobado said encroachment on public land is illegal. “It is our duty as the Department of Lands to ensure that the land is secured,” said Kobado.

Migori County Commissioner David Gitonga had ordered that mining at Komire by the public be stopped.