Senator Wambua calls for an end to deadly Kitui sand harvesting

Sand harvesting in Kitui is a curse that has brought death and untold suffering to residents with powerful cartels profiting from an illegal trade, Senator Enoch Wambua has said.

Wambua said unregulated sand mining along the county’s rivers has caused severe environmental degradation and deep social harm, including school dropouts, rising teenage pregnancies and increased HIV/Aids infections.

“It is unacceptable that the future of Kitui’s children is being destroyed, our environment degraded and our people killed. Cases of HIV/Aids infections have also shot up,” Wambua said on Wednesday.

He called for an immediate end to destructive sand harvesting.

“We are saying no to sand harvesting. It must stop forthwith. Our people have suffered unbearably,” he said.

The senator spoke at Mwania in Mwingi Central Sub-county when he visited the family of Joseph Mwendwa Maluki, who was on Tuesday slashed to death by suspected goons allegedly hired by sand harvesting merchants.

Maluki was among residents who had mounted a vigil at Mwania River to block sand harvesting activities over concerns of environmental degradation.

The group was reportedly attacked by individuals armed with machetes, clubs and shovels. Maluki sustained fatal injuries. He leg was mutilated.

Wambua said two people have so far died in Mwania in conflicts linked to the sand trade and called for united action by Kitui leaders to end the violence.

The lawmaker, who in December vowed he was ready to pay the ultimate price to stop sand harvesting in Kitui, said the latest killing should serve as a wake-up call.

“The blood that was shed in Mwania should not be in vain. We will ensure that trucks no longer scoop and cart away our sand. They can source it elsewhere, but they should not come here to incite violence against our people,” he said.

Maluki’s son, Kimanzi Mwendwa, called for justice and appealed to President William Ruto and security agencies to ensure those responsible are held accountable.

He said his father’s death would not deter the community from protecting Mwania River, which residents depend on for domestic use and watering livestock.