Kenya: Kenyan Law Aimed at Luring Mining Giants Sparks ‘Resource Curse’ Fears

Nov 6, 2014 | Andrew Thompson, The Guardian
View Original

Community and human rights advocates in Kenya are wary of a new mining bill that is on the verge of being passed into law.

Kenya’s national assembly has voted to overhaul its 74-year-old colonial mining act, as it aims to ramp up the country’s fledgling sector.

But Melba Wasunna, an adviser on extractives and human rights at the Katiba Institute, an organisation that studies Kenya’s new constitution and its implementation, cites a 2006 UN study that said oil, gas and mining industries account for nearly two-thirds of global violations of human rights, environmental laws and international labour standards.