Kenya’s Mining Act (2016) was a genuine turning point for artisanal and small-scale mining, by formally acknowledging that millions of Kenyans had been mining lawfully in practice but illegally on paper. The Act introduced Artisanal Mining Permits, and made cooperative registration a viable pathway to formal status.
The architecture of the law is sound, but implementation has been slow. A government moratorium on new mining licences ran from 2019 to October 2023, translating to four years during which miners who wanted to formalise had no legal pathway to do so. The moratorium has since been lifted, but little traction has been made on formalisation due to technical challenges.
Consequently, informal operations have continued to thrive. Miners have made genuine efforts to address some of the governance challenges, including self-organising into associations and cooperatives. The Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners Association (ASMAK) has been at the forefront of pooling the collective power of miners to negotiate and lobby for sustainable mining practices and governance systems that support the ASM sector. At the site level, mine sites are characterised by robust, localised governance structures that dictate site access, site safety, benefit sharing, and dispute resolution through a blend of formal and informal governance systems.
What has been deficient is sufficient political will to guarantee timely permit processing, functional County Artisanal Mining Committees, and negotiation of favourable interventions that actually support artisanal miners. Sustained political commitment from both national and county governments is critical in operationalising what the law already provides.
Three overdue interventions
First, fast-track licensing for organised mining groups with streamlined documentary requirements. Second, genuine resourcing of the self-regulatory governance architecture that has improved compliance within the sector. And third, direct technical and financial support for compliant cooperatives to access mercury-free processing technology, formal credit pathways, and market linkages through a functioning gold commodities exchange.
These are not aspirational additions to the Act. They are the conditions under which the Act’s existing provisions can actually work.