Kakamega Senator Dr Boni Khalwale has renewed his call to transform Kakamega into a “Gold City,” tying the region’s untapped mineral wealth to the long, painful history of government crackdowns that have left several artisanal miners dead.
Speaking during a public engagement on Monday, Dr Khalwale said the gold belt running through Ikolomani, Rosterman and parts of Shinyalu holds enough potential to lift thousands out of poverty if properly regulated—rather than policed with brutality.
He criticised decades of violent confrontations between security officers and small-scale miners, incidents that have resulted in deaths, injuries and destroyed livelihoods. Residents recall operations where police stormed mining sites, firing tear gas and live bullets in attempts to disperse miners accused of operating illegally. “Our young men have been beaten, arrested and some even killed for simply trying to earn a living from the soil beneath their feet,” Dr Khalwale said. “This cannot continue. If we legalise, organise and invest in the sector, we will stop bloodshed and create prosperity.”
The senator said artisanal miners have long worked under dangerous conditions while earning little from minerals that enrich middlemen. He called for a modern licensing system, regulated extraction and a community-based benefit-sharing model. According to him, abandoned colonial-era mines still hold commercial-grade reserves that could turn Kakamega into a full mining economy.
Dr Khalwale has campaigned for years for mining reforms, pointing to past geological surveys that identified significant deposits but were never followed by structured investment. His latest remarks come at a time when families of miners killed in security operations are still seeking justice, and as Kenya debates how to diversify revenue sources amid rising economic pressures.
“Kakamega can become a true Gold City—not a place where miners die in the hands of the government, but where they work safely and benefit from their land,” he said.
