International Development Law Organization

IDLO Supports Mining Reform in Kenya

IDLO has handed over ‘popular versions’ of the Kenya Mining and Minerals Policy to the Kenyan government during the opening session of the first Kenyan Mining Forum.

The mining sector is seen as having the potential to contribute significantly to Kenya’s economic development.

“The mining sector is one of the pillars that we believe has the power to define the future of our country,” noted the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya, H.E. William Ruto, who officially opened the forum. “The Government will set aside special zones for mining and give permits to miners to unlock the potential in the sector. We will protect the interests of investors but will not allow them to take advantage of the industry. We want a win-win situation.”

The Ministry of Mining prepared the policy as a framework to strengthen the regulation and coordination, and to guide the development, of the mining sector by addressing existing gaps. IDLO worked on the ‘popular versions’ of the policy, with the aim of summarising the key elements in a simplified form. The policy provided the basis for the Mining Act (2016), which has also been developed with the technical support of IDLO.

Cabinet Secretary, Dan Kazungu, applauded the progress made, “Kenya has one of the most comprehensive and progressive mining policy and legal frameworks in Africa aligned to Kenya’s development vision 2030, the Constitution and regional frameworks, including the Africa Mining Vision.”

IDLO is continuing its work with the Ministry on the operationalization of the Mining Policy and Act through the finalization of the draft Mining Regulations and Guidelines, facilitation of stakeholder engagements, development of ‘popular versions’ of the Mining Act, technical reviews of the new legislation to identify possible areas of future reform, and development of a comprehensive framework for management of benefit-sharing.

Speaking at the Forum, IDLO’s Country Director in Kenya, Enid Muthoni, praised the country for developing robust policy and legislative frameworks for the mining sector, which provide effective checks against human rights violations and destruction of protected bio-diversity resources in the exploitation of mineral resources, while also ensuring equitable benefit sharing between the two levels of government and also communities.

These efforts form part of IDLO’s broader support in Kenya towards strengthening policy and legal frameworks relating to natural resource management.

Mining and Minerals Policy available for download below.