Editorials

EDITORIAL: Unlock mining royalties

mining

The State must move with speed to conclude the legal instrument required to release more than Sh6 billion mining royalties to counties and communities. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The State must move with speed to conclude the legal instrument required to release more than Sh6 billion mining royalties to counties and communities.

The revelation that the cash has been piling over the last four years at the National Treasury instead of benefiting communities is blunting the usefulness of the Mining Act of 2016.

The Act stipulates that royalties are shared by national and county governments and communities on a percentage of 70-20-10 respectively.

The Treasury must work closely with the State department of Mining to ensure the Public Finance Management (Royalty Fund Sharing) Regulations are concluded in the shortest time possible and approved.

The draft regulations were sent to the Attorney General and the Treasury for approval in 2018 and it is shocking that the two organs have not given any public explanation for the lag.

A further delay in passing these regulations only amounts to denying the counties and communities a legal entitlement.

Given that money sitting in public coffers usually risks misappropriation or allocation to other roles, the absence of the crucial regulations exposes counties and communities to loss.

Extraction firms have been paying royalties and there is no reason communities should be kept waiting.

Local communities sacrifice their attachment to land and it is only right that they share in the benefits derived from the very resources.