Amongst the armies of bedraggled artisanal miners toiling in the gemstone fields of Tsavo landscape, an old legend speaks of a precious stone that blesses its finder.

It is considered the holy grail in the family of precious stones. For gemstone connoisseurs and international collectors, it is the ultimate must-get prize to crown a collector’s life achievements.

“Tsavorite remains the most sought-after stone by miners and dealers because it is rare and very valuable. It is considered a uniquely Kenyan product because it is found in Taita-Taveta county,” says David Zowe, Chair of Taita-Taveta Artisanal Miners Association.

Famed for its legendary beauty characterised by vibrant green hue, tsavorite has eclipsed other precious stones to acquire a royalty-like status. To the miners it is not just the magic stone that turns paupers into millionaires but also the promised gateway that leads to the land of great riches.

As a region, Taita-Taveta county is home to several types of semi-precious and precious stones. They include rubies, amethyst, tourmalines, kynanites, red garnets and peridot amongst others. The region also has other industrial minerals like iron ore, quartz and manganese. However, no mineral has captured the imagination of miners in the region and beyond as tsavorite.

Tsavorite is emblematic of the vast potential the region has for becoming a global mining powerhouse and transforming the lives of thousands of residents who are currently wallowing in poverty.

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) 2021 Poverty Report indicated that Taita Taveta county has a 33.9 per cent poverty index, slightly lower than the national average of 38.6 per cent.

While mining remains a multi-billion shillings’ sector, the fortunes and revenue from this lucrative industry have all but failed to translate into better lives for local residents. The sector loses millions annually to wanton smuggling of tsavorite, non-disclosure of sales by traders and deliberate failure by dealers and miners to pay the required royalties to the state.

To tackle these challenges, the government recently categorised Tsavorite as one of the 14 strategic minerals in Kenya.

Strategic minerals are considered extremely vital to a country’s economic wellbeing in addition to being critical to sensitive sectors like defense. Other minerals listed as strategic in Kenya include radio-active minerals like uranium and thorium, cobalt, copper, graphite, niobium amongst others.

As a new entrant to this special category, tsavorite seems to have come of age. This means the entire value chain of prospecting, exploring, mining, trading and dealing in this gem must be sanctioned by the government.

The Mining Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi says miners keen on mining tsavorite will work closely with the National Mining Corporation (NMC) to ensure compliance.

He adds that licensing and issuance of permits will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
“Those who want to mine tsavorite will work with the government through the National Mining Corporation to ensure compliance and adherence to the guidelines,” he says.

He adds that the government is outlawing the exporting of uncut gemstones and is advocating for processing all precious stones destined for the international market. The value-addition will see miners get significantly better prices and value for their products.

The involvement of the government in mining tsavorite has been hailed by the artisanal miners as a timely move that will restore order in a sector disrupted and dominated by unscrupulous local and international dealers.

It is also seen as a deliberate effort by the state to eradicate the smuggling of the precious stone and compel miners and dealers to operate wholly from the newly-opened Sh 50-million Voi Gemology, Value Addition and Marketing Center.

Stephen Mwadime, Chair of Mwatate-based Chawia Minerals Community Based Organization (CBO) says miners will support moves that are intended to empower them.

“As artisanal miners, we have no problem with this move if it will shield miners from exploitation and make their hustle profitable. The dealers and buyers might complain but this move will benefit the miner because the government has come on board,” he says.

His sentiments are echoed by Zowe who notes that the government will realise increased annual revenue collected from the gemstone sector.

He adds that over the years, the government has been losing huge amounts of revenue from lack of transparency in the trade and tax evasion by rogue dealers who engage in multi-million shillings deals but never pay anything to the state.

He disclosed that Taita-Taveta county was receiving little share of mining royalty from the national government because the state was collecting pittance from the region.