Kwale County Deputy Governor Chirema Kombo, along with other leaders, walked out of a meeting held by Mining CS Hassan Joho on Friday, citing what they described as disrespectful treatment of local leadership and exclusion from decision-making processes regarding the Mrima Hill mining project.
According to Chirema, the confrontation began when he gave the floor to other leaders during the consultative meeting, starting with the area Member of the County Assembly for Nzombo Ward.
"I was given a chance to speak when the meeting was called to order. I decided to give other leaders a chance to speak, starting with the area MCA, Nzombo ward," the Deputy Governor explained.
However, the situation quickly escalated when CS Joho allegedly interrupted the MCA with threats.
"When he started speaking, the CS stopped him immediately, with threats, saying the MCAs words were not welcome. That's when I realized they had their own agenda," Chirema stated.
Read More
The Deputy Governor said the threatening manner in which local leaders were being treated made it impossible to continue with meaningful dialogue.
"If a leader is speaking and he is threatened, then those are not fair talks. I told the CS if he is not going to listen to the local leaders, then we can't work together," he added.
Chirema further accused the CS of sidelining elected county leadership by engaging other groups instead.
"If he can do the work alone, let him. He has already involved Kaya elders, and forest association people, as if there are no local leaders," he said.
The Deputy Governor defended the walkout as a stand for protecting county interests, noting that he and Governor had made commitments to safeguard local resources.
"The governor and I vowed to protect the people's property and resources here in Kwale when we came into office, and that's why today we stood up for the citizen," Chirema declared.
Vanga Ward MCA echoed similar concerns, accusing the national government of ambushing local leadership with the meeting.
"We have leadership here in Kwale, that deserves respect. Our governor is not even aware of what is going on here, we were ambushed with this meeting," the MCA said.
He emphasized that local residents needed clarity on how they would benefit from the mineral resources in their area.
"If there are minerals in Kwale, and other resources, we need to know how it is going to benefit the locals and people living here," the MCA stated.
The meeting centered on the Mrima Hill Strategic Minerals project, which CS Joho has described as being of national strategic importance.
In a statement posted on Friday, January 10, Joho outlined that the site hosts minerals critical for modern infrastructure and energy transition.
The CS indicated that the Ministry of Mining is committed to ensuring the resources are extracted safely, transparently and sustainably for the benefit of both Kwale and the entire country.
Joho also announced that Mrima Hill would be the first mining project in Kenya subjected to an open and competitive tendering process, which he said would set a new benchmark for accountability in the mining sector.
The CS further assured Kwale leadership that the Ministry would maintain transparency and accountability throughout the project's development process.
-1754810017.jpg)
