27 quarry workers locked up in Mandera 'for their safety'

What you need to know:

  • The 27 were on Wednesday “wrongfully charged just to have them kept in a safe place”, according to the officer.

  • They were charged with causing disturbance in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace by shouting and blocking entrance to county commissioner’s office in Mandera town on May 21.

  • They all pleaded not guilty to the charge before Mandera Senior Resident Magistrate Peter Areri.

Some 27 quarry workers are being held at Mandera GK Prison “for their own safety”, a police source has revealed.

The source, who played a role in plotting on how to deal with the "stubborn" stone diggers, said they risked their lives when they chose to walk to Nairobi from Mandera.

'CHARGE'

“We could not sit back and wait to be blamed for any attack on this group of individuals who had threatened to trek to Nairobi from here after quarries were closed,” the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Nation on Thursday.

According to the police, Al-Shabaab is planning ambushes on Mandera roads and letting the 27 walk to the capital would have been dangerous.

“These people are all non-locals who are targeted by Al-Shabaab and they left Mandera on Tuesday morning,” he said.

“They raised a lot of attention on the roads as they were singing and shouting.”

The police gave the protesters a chase and arrested them at Qarbogole area, some 20 kilometres outside of Mandera town.

The 27 were on Wednesday “wrongfully charged just to have them kept in a safe place”, according to the officer.

They were charged with causing disturbance in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace by shouting and blocking entrance to county commissioner’s office in Mandera town on May 21.

SH50,000 BOND

They all pleaded not guilty to the charge before Mandera Senior Resident Magistrate Peter Areri.

They were each granted a Sh50,000 bond with a surety of a similar amount or a Sh10,000 cash bail.

In default, the court directed that they be remanded at Mandera GK Prison, which police promptly did.

“We had forgiven them for what they did on Monday at the county commissioner’s office but they did not realize that and went ahead to continue causing a lot of nuisance to us,” said the police officer.

“How comes we did not arrest them the day they blocked entry into county commissioner’s office only for us to arrest them two days later?”

The 27 will cool their heels in prison until June 6 when their case will be mentioned.

Those arraigned on Wednesday and later locked up are Henry Ongoro, Francis Mariko Obayi, Manoah Mutange, Nicholas Mweleza, Josam Aroda, Henry Kavirwa, Andrew Pela Wekesa, Francis Maina and Benson Mugo.

Others are Joseph Ng’achira, Wilson Ndegwa, Duncan Kasoroi, Glandi Musyoki, John Nyamu Kimathi, Antony Mwirigi, Simon Obiri, Martin Mutua and Kennedy Wanjala.

PROTEST

Charles Imana, Thomas Subule, Benson Bundi, Daniel Kimathi, Kevin Nyongesa, Stephen Koome, Francis Simiyu, Henry Wekesa and Peter Maina Nderitu also appeared in court.

During their protest on Monday, the group demanded to be addressed by Mr Kutswa Olaka, the county commissioner, on when the stone quarries will be reopened.

Led by Henry Ongoro, the stone miners accused the national government of denying them their right to earn a living.

They also wanted to be facilitated to leave Mandera if the quarries were to remain closed.

“If we don’t get answers to our questions then we shall leave Mandera on foot to our homes,” said Mr Ongoro.

The government announced closure of quarries on May 4, a week after four miners were killed by suspected Al-Shabaab militants at Shimbir-Fatuma quarry in Mandera South.

Mr Olaka told the Nation then that the closure was to allow for a security operation to curb rising terrorism in Mandera.

ROBA

On May 7, the miners took to streets against the closure but Mr Olaka assured them that it was a short-term measure, pegging it on insecurity.

Mandera Governor Ali Roba on May 12 asked the miners to ignore the directive and return in quarries but it came to pass.

The governor accused the local security team of coiling back on the security challenge in Mandera, suggesting that the situation in Mandera needed a head-on tackle.

“We believe we have security challenges here but our lives cannot stop because of these challenges,” he said.

Mr Roba said it was sounding ridiculous or cowardly to interfere with construction industry in Mandera just because there was a terror attack somewhere within.

Stone miners complained that keeping them out of quarries and idling in town was exposing them to greater risks.

It is not the first time stone miners are finding themselves on the wrong side of the ‘law’.

1,200-KM WALK

In 2015, 21 of them were arrested and fined Ksh60,000 or serve six months in jail for breaching a quarrying ban.

Mr Ali Madey, chairman Mandera Quarry Owners Association, said the arrest of their workforce was a surprise.

“Government knows why it is holding innocent people but on our side there is nothing we can do since our businesses are closed,” he said.

“If the stone miners could have been left to walk to Nairobi then this would have been the second group to cover the 1,200km distance on foot”.

In 2015, a group of activists from North Eastern trekked from Nairobi to Mandera under their ‘Walk of Hope’ initiative to attract global attention to the impact of terrorism on the region.

It took the group 31 days to arrive in Mandera from Nairobi and the miners seemed determined to conquer the same.