{"id":6879,"date":"2026-01-27T18:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T18:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tandaomedia.co.ke\/?p=6879"},"modified":"2026-01-27T18:06:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T18:06:53","slug":"tmg-news-127","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tandaomedia.co.ke\/index.php\/2026\/01\/27\/tmg-news-127\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaders Urged to Back Mining for Western Kenya\u2019s Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1070\" height=\"778\" src=\"https:\/\/tandaomedia.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1000829184.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tandaomedia.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1000829184.jpg 1070w, https:\/\/tandaomedia.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1000829184-300x218.jpg 300w, https:\/\/tandaomedia.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1000829184-1024x745.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/tandaomedia.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1000829184-768x558.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1070px) 100vw, 1070px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><strong><kbd><mark style=\"background-color:#cf2e2e\" class=\"has-inline-color has-white-color\">BY MICHAEL SIFUNA. <\/mark><\/kbd><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Political leaders have been called upon to support mining activities in Kakamega County and the wider western region to ensure local communities benefit from the sector\u2019s economic potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During a meeting at Golf Hotel in Kakamega, Governor Fernandes Barasa emphasized the need to depoliticize mining, warning that political interference could derail economic transformation. He reiterated the county government\u2019s commitment to responsible mining and pledged full support for Santa Gold Mining Company\u2019s operations.Mining Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai underscored the importance of stakeholder engagement in unlocking large-scale mineral extraction. He announced that the government will spearhead the process with community representation through an 11-member committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"865\" src=\"https:\/\/tandaomedia.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1000829183-1024x865.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6881\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tandaomedia.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1000829183-1024x865.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/tandaomedia.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1000829183-300x253.jpg 300w, https:\/\/tandaomedia.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1000829183-768x649.jpg 768w, https:\/\/tandaomedia.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1000829183.jpg 1070w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><mark style=\"background-color:#cf2e2e\" class=\"has-inline-color has-white-color\">Kakamega County Governor Fernandes Barasa addressing people during a meeting at Golf Hotel in Kakamega. PHOTO\/MICHAEL SIFUNA<\/mark><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Kimtai further revealed that formal talks on mining in Ikolomani are set to begin tomorrow, marking a step toward structured and inclusive exploitation of mineral resources.  This push for collaboration between government, investors, and local communities signals a new chapter for mining in western Kenya, with hopes of turning natural resources into tangible development gains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BY MICHAEL SIFUNA. Political leaders have been called upon to support mining activities in Kakamega County and the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-western-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.11 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Leaders Urged to Back Mining for Western Kenya\u2019s Growth - Tandao Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Political leaders have been called upon to support mining activities in Kakamega County and the wider western region to ensure local communities benefit from the sector\u2019s economic potential.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tandaomedia.co.ke\/index.php\/2026\/01\/27\/tmg-news-127\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leaders Urged to Back Mining for Western Kenya\u2019s Growth - 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