Gold discovery draws miners to Homa Bay village

The gold mining site in Maguje village, Homa Bay Sub-County. [James Omoro, Standard]

Residents of Maguje village in Homa Bay County are upbeat following the discovery of gold deposits in the area.

The land where the gold deposits have been discovered used to lie idle.

The land could only be used for peasant farming during the rainy season and for grazing livestock during the dry seasons.

But what started as a place where people were just collecting small loose stones has now turned into a serious economic activity.

Owino Opiyo, who owns the land where the gold deposits have been discovered, said he never knew the property harboured wealth.

Opiyo told journalists that he used to see some people collecting small loose stones in the area and was not disturbed by their activities.

The stone collectors used small plastic bags, making him believe there was no significant economic value they were getting.

“I used to see a few people coming to collect small stones from my land. They collected the stones in such small quantities that I could not think they could carry any significant economic benefit,” Opiyo said.

He became curious after the people who were collecting the stones intensified their activities.

Someone hinted to him that there could be gold deposits in the land.

“I became curious and took a sample of soil from the land to a machine for testing. The test revealed gold deposits in my land,” Opiyo said.

He informed his chief, who convened a meeting about the matter.

The information on the gold deposits rapidly spread across the Nyanza region. The following day, people from various gold mining sites across the region gathered at the site with their machines.

“Those who came with their machines tested and established that there was gold. That was the time my face beamed with delight,” Opiyo added.

For the last week, the villages have become a beehive of activity. Some mine the mineral, crush the soil and wash it in efforts to obtain gold.

Today, the villages are crowded like a market.

“Various people from Homa Bay, Siaya, Kisumu and Migori counties are working here. This place is very busy and people are experiencing improved livelihoods because of the minerals,” Opiyo said.

John Mwema, a miner, expressed hope that they will get good quantities of gold in the area.

“We have been mining here for one week. There are those who have got gold and sold it. We are optimistic that we will get it in large quantities after some time,” Mwema said.

Gideon Ochieng said the gold will transform lives in the area.

“Our village is very dry and the mineral is going to improve our lives economically. Today, we have a good source of livelihood,” Ochieng said.

Maurine Anyango said the main challenge affecting them was a shortage of machines for crushing the mined soil from which they extract gold.

“We need more machines to make crushing easier,” Anyango said.