Balala revokes 65 mining licences as clean up winds up

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THE STAR
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Monday, April 13, 2015
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Balala revokes 65
mining licences as
clean up winds up
Can YOU outsmart
the expert?
ALY KHAN’S
STAR
PORTFOLIO
Photo/ FILE
THE ‘PRIDE OF AFRICA’ IS FAST
LOSING GROUND
P
AUDIT: Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala after receiving a report on issuance of mining licences
from task force chairman Mohammed Nyaoga at his office on January 29 last year.
BY LOLA OKULO
MINING Cabinet secretary Najib Balala has cancelled licences
held by 65 firms and individuals
to weed out dormant and speculative mining companies.
In a notice, Balala said the licences were revoked due to non
performance, breach of approval
conditions and non compliance
to industry rules.
“From the date of the issuance of this notice, any mining
or prospecting activities by these
persons or companies over the
areas that are subject of the revoked licences shall be illegal,”
said Balala in the notice.
The cancellation has left 4.5
million acres of land available for
exploration, the ministry said.
The firms whose licences have
been cancelled include Saharco
Group International Company
Ltd, Yongtai Mining Company
Ltd, Pan African Chemicals Ltd,
Laholmes Machinery, African
Uranium Kenya Ltd and Bisil
Mining Company Ltd.
Others are Bootcut Mining
Company Ltd, Garsesala Mining
Company Ltd, Cortec Mining
Kenya Ltd, Ablun Mining Company Ltd, Anods Enterprises
Company and Bosmans Investments Ltd.
The individuals whose licences
were revoked are Collin Kiprono
Bett, Harie Kinosthe Ndungu,
Depark R. Ravji Patel, Mohamoud Kassim, Miyanji, Ravji Karsan Sanghani and Joseph Ndimau Mutwanthei.
Balala said the latest round
of cancellations concludes cases
before a taskforce inquiring into
mining licences fraudulently
acquired during the transition
from President Mwai Kibaki to
Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration
in 2013.
The taskforce set up in August
2013 probed licences issued between January and May 2013,
out of which only 175 had valid
prospecting rights, nine did not
have while 69 could not be verified.
In the latest round of cancellations, eight licences were classified as non-compliant, meaning
that they were granted without
complying with requirements
of the Mining Act and regulations; 46 licences were listed as
non-performing and expired,
meaning that the licensees were
in breach of the conditions of issuance.
Out of the 65 cancelled licences, 11 were surrendered by their
holders who wrote to the Commissioner of Mines and Geology
while 15 belong to companies or
individuals who were mining or
exploring for gypsum.
Thirteen licences were for base
and precious metals, 16 were for
all mineral types, nine for mining industrial minerals, eight for
non-precious minerals and four
for prospecting and exploring
for gemstones.
ICPAK asks Uhuru to maintain war on graft
BY STAR REPORTER
PRESIDENT Uhuru Kenyatta
has been urged to sustain the
war against corruption in the
country to enhance service
delivery and drive economic
growth.
The Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya said on
Friday that the move by Uhuru
to suspend officials linked to
corruption scandals is a positive
one and should be supported
by all. Last month, Uhuru suspended five Cabinet secretaries
and 12 other high ranking state
officers currently under investigation by the Ethics and Anti
Corruption Commission.
‘‘This momentum in the war
against graft should not be
compromised and should be
supported by all,’’ said ICPSK
chairman, Nicholas Leting.
Uhuru gave the commission
60 days to finalise investigations
against the officials.
Speaking during the institute’s
22nd annual dinner on Friday in
Nairobi, Leting said the institute
will also aid in war against corruption and is preparing a code
of governance titled Mwongozo
for state-owned entities.
ICPAK recently launched
a code of ethics for private
organisations to help fight graft
in corporates.
resident Kagame said
Lets return to the business per
the following at the US- se. The fuel hedging is incompeAfrica Summit last year: tence of the highest order. Sure
“The markets are never the banks have made money and
wrong.”
if the blogs are to be believed
Airline stocks worldwide have
[and the silence from Kenya
soared and the catalyst for this
Airways is a very loud signal in
rally which has floated all boats
this regard] so have some insid[except that of our national carers but essentially whatever the
rier Kenya Airways] has been the reason, it is clear now that the
collapse in the price of oil. Fuel
board is fast asleep or worse. I
is typically the single biggest
worked for the Japanese once
expense item for airlines and
and if there was a similar situayou do not have to be a rocket
tion the management would man
scientist to appreciate that when up and there would be a mass
your single biggest expense item resignation. This is a national
falls by 50 per cent, you are in a
interest issue now plain and
very sweet spot. Therefore, this
simple. There needs to be a forising tide has floated all boats
rensic audit and not one of those
[airlines] except Kenya Airways
‘white-wash’ ones. There needs
which has slumped 23.68 per
to be a lifestyle audit to confirm
cent over the past four weeks
that Key Employees are living at
as investors dump the stock at
levels commensurate with their
practically any price.
incomes.
The question is therefore why
Furthermore, we need to
has Kenya Airways slumped to
speak with the big Gulf carriers
multi-year lows. I concur with
like Emirates and Etihad
President Kagame about the
markets never being
wrong and we are
now at a point when
we have to understand
what is wrong and
something has to be
done before the airline
enters a “death-spiral.’’
I appreciate there
have been challenges.
Travel warnings and
the Al-Shabaab insurgency and also Ebola
ing at JKIA.
A KQ plane land
[The West African route
TOUGH TIMES:
was the jewel in the
crown] are well known.
to see how we can get
The competition is now parked
them to take a stake because
in Kenya Airways backyard. This
they are proven operators who
week I was in Dubai and I noted
prima facie understand the
the Emirates flight was full and
airline business. KLM has nothcarrying more than 400 passening to offer anymore. The Kenya
gers. Kenya Airways uplifted less government does not have the
than 40 passengers on the very
resource envelope to make a
same day. Fourty passengers on
meaningful enough intervention.
a Dreamliner is a loss! Plain and
Someone has to get a grip and
simple.
get a grip now.
Shares go up and down and readers are advised that this column represents
Satchu’s personal opinion.