Farmers in Kwale County are raising an alarm over potential loss of livelihood and farmlands should the proposed rare-earth mining at Mrima Hill in Kwale County proceed without proper consultation.
This follows a preliminary agreement between Kenya and the United States which seeks to exploit rare-earth deposits in the area.
However, according to farmers and conservationist the mover could destroy the ecosystem at Mrima Hill as a result of toxic waste emanating from mining activities.
Mrima Farmers Community-Based Organisation is among various civil society groups which are opposing mining activities at the nobium-rich Mrima Hill until rights are met.
“We have realized that farmers have not been well represented in this proposed project,” said Justice Mwero, Chairman of the Mrima Farmers Community-Based Organisation.
According to Mwero, the CBO which was formed after a meeting with Ministry of Mining officials has been responsible for creating awareness among farmers on the proposed project to secure their rights.
“We have been able to make farmers aware about their rights. Rights of land, inheritance, compensation and everything to do with the project,” he added.
The CBO which has so far held engagements with farmers in 11 out of 15 villages around Mrima Hill however decried the lack of support from county government to secure rights of farmers
“We have lacked support from county government because of various interest groups on the project. However as CBO we will continue to create awareness on the information they need to ensure farmers know their rights,” noted Mwero.
Kwale County is among counties where food insecurity is a challenge and destruction of farmlands could exacerbate the situation.
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), Kwale County is projected to enter acute food stage on account of higher fuel prices which continue to impact prices of food.
The proposed mining of the rare-earth deposits currently value at Ksh 10 trillion ($62b) has also hit a legal hurdle following a petition by Centre for Litigation and Trust (CIT).
“There are concessions which have been done and there is a preliminary agreement between the Government of Kenya and the US government. Kenya to concession that hill with those rare mineral deposits,” said said N.M. Kamwendwa, Advocate at N.M. Kamwendwa & Co. Advocates.
CIT through their lawyer argued that the project lacked transparency despite holding massive amounts of rare-earth minerals which are used to manufacture Artificial Intelligence hardware, missile guidance systems, electric vehicle batteries, jet engines among others.
“My Lord, notwithstanding the people of Kenya have no knowledge of what is happening. The state of affairs pertaining to that preliminary agreement is shrouded in secrecy and there is a lot of opaqueness,” he added.
The case is now slated to be heard on September 16, 2026 to confirm filing of submissions in a case where Office of the Attorney-General, Ministry of Mining Cabinet Secretary, Kwale County Government are among the respondents.
