The government will over the next few years focus on ensuring its mineral wealth benefits the communities under a mineral royalty sharing scheme that will see ten percent of total revenue from mining going to communities where the minerals are extracted.
By signing of community development agreements, mining firms will be required to play a role in social development and thus improve lives of Kenyans.
Speaking at the Kenya Mining Forum, Deputy President William Ruto noted that Kenya has a very rich inheritance.
“It’s incumbent upon us to manage it well, if only because we will transform our lives, and our children’s lives if we do so. That’s the opportunity before us. We can be a country whose natural riches are widely and fairly shared, with enough left for our posterity — and all while respecting our environment. If ever there was an opportunity that had to be seized, this is it. Let us take it, said the Deputy President.
The Ministry of Mining has presented a proposal to the National Treasury for the establishment of the Mineral Royalty Fund to channel royalty payment using a revenue-sharing formula that will see 70 percent of revenue go to the national government, 20 percent to the County government and 10 percent to the local communities.
“Parliament has approved the community development regulation to ensure mining firms sign community development agreements in order for these communities to benefit from mineral wealth”, disclosed Mining Cabinet Secretary Dan Kazungu
With the Mineral Rights Board in place, the Ministry of Mining has now begun the process of issuing mining licenses to investors and is working on having the nationwide airborne geophysical survey launched in March of 2018 following joint support from the national treasury and office of state law who have concluded engagement with China’s Exim bank and Chinese contractor GETI.
Mining Cabinet Secretary said the project will increase provision of geodata to investors thereby increasing revenue generation for the country through further exploration and mining of minerals.