The Environment and Land Court at Malindi has ordered the Cabinet Secretary of Mining and Petroleum to allow salt harvesting companies including Kensalt Salt Limited to continue operating.
In a judgement in favour of the companies, the court noted that the leases that the firms hold were governed by law and the enactment of the new mining Act in 2016 did not interfere with their rights.
Other petitioners in the case were Krystalline Salt Limited, Kurawa Industries Limited and Malindi Salt Works Limited.
“Having found that edible salt is regulated by the Mining Act and that the Petitioners’ leases were governed by law and were operating legally within the framework of the Registration of Titles Act, the letters dated 12th May 2021 by the respondent (the minister) for compliance are hereby quashed,” Justice Millicent Odeny said.
The salt harvesting companies had, under the Registration of Titles Act, been given leasehold rights of between 50 to 99 years to harvest edible salt.
The salt harvesting companies stated that four years after the enactment of the Mining Act, the ministry demanded that the companies seek fresh rights for them to continue harvesting salt on their leased parcels of land.
The respondents told them that the salt harvesting rights that they enjoyed were extinguished by the new Mining Act. This prompted the salt harvesting firms to seek the court’s intervention.
The salt harvesting companies argued that they should not be governed by the Mining Act as it only mentioned industrial and construction salt whereas they harvested edible salt.
They further argued that the ministry purported to quash their proprietary rights over leased parcels of land without compensation or taking into account the billions of shillings that they had invested in the mining of salt.
In response, the Ministry of Mining defended its actions by stating that salt is a mineral that is under the realm of the Mining Act, therefore the allegations by the salt harvesting companies that they were not governed by the Mining Act were misplaced.
The ministry also added that the company's leasehold rights were diminished by the coming into place of the Mining Act of 2016.
