Farmers and Digo leaders seek details before a developer is chosen
A technical committee in Kenya is evaluating five proposals to develop niobium and rare earth elements beneath Mrima Hill, a forested area near the Tanzanian border and Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast. The committee has not announced a developer, and residents say they have received little information about where mining would take place or how it could affect their farms, livelihoods and sacred forest. Mining Minister Hassan Joho said an announcement would follow within two to three weeks.
The proposed development comes as countries seek secure supplies of rare earth minerals used in electric vehicle motors, wind turbines and defense technologies. Those efforts include finding alternatives to China’s dominance of mineral processing. Kenya’s government views mining and local mineral processing as ways to expand the economy and create jobs, Joho said in a Sept. 28 interview with Semafor, a U.S.-based news outlet.
The ministry has not disclosed the bidders’ nationalities, citing confidentiality. Australian company RareX said its consortium with Iluka Resources submitted a technical and financial proposal on Oct. 21. Another company, Nasdaq-listed Critical Metals Corp., said in July that its consortium had been shortlisted for the final stage of bidding to develop the Mrima Hill rare earths and niobium project.
Kenya aims to increase mining’s contribution to gross domestic product from about 1% to 10% within a decade, according to Joho. That target covers the entire mining sector. In 2013, projections put the Mrima Hill project’s potential gross revenue at about $62 billion over 23 years, according to the mining news website Extractives Daily. The estimate used commodity prices at the time, excluded development and operating costs and did not indicate how much Kenya would receive.
On a recent morning, farmers gathered in a circle beside the main road in Mrima to discuss the mining plans as the wooded hill rose across the street. Justus Mwero, chairman of the Mrima Farm Owners Community-Based Organization, which has about 500 registered farmers, said: “We haven’t been informed about the process at all. We don’t know how people are going to be looked after, or what impact the project will have.”
“We are waiting to see what is going to happen,” Mwero said.
For the local Digo community, Mrima Hill contains a kaya, a sacred forest where residents say their ancestors are buried. Masoud Suleiman Mwarizo, chairman of the Mrima Hill Digo Community Trust, formed in 2025 to defend the community’s interests in the project, said: “Our traditions and practices are organized around the forest. All our ancestors are buried here. We will refuse any digging of the hill.” The Mrima Hill Sacred Grove forest reserve was designated a national monument in 1992. The National Museums of Kenya did not respond to a request for comment.
Farmers around the hill fear relocation could leave them with less productive land, though it remains unclear whether the project would require residents to move. “We all rely on farming to survive. This land is fertile, and if we are relocated to less fertile land, hunger could strike us,” Mwero said.
Rama Bindo, treasurer of the Digo Community Trust, said residents without formal ownership documents were particularly vulnerable. “Not all farmers have title deeds to prove ownership of their land, and that makes it easy for land grabbing to happen,” Bindo said.
Joho said the ministry consulted with the community before advertising the tender for developing Mrima Hill. Once a winner is chosen, he said, the ministry will formally introduce the company to the community so they can reach agreements. Under Kenya’s Mining Act, a mining licence holder must sign a community development agreement with the community where mining takes place and cannot start mining until landowners have been compensated.
Harry Kimtai, principal secretary at Kenya’s Mining Ministry, said that once a company is awarded the project, “communities will be encouraged to engage directly with the winner.” If disputes arise, he said, the government will explain residents’ rights and monitor whether the company complies with the law.
The Centre for Litigation Trust, a Kenyan civil society group, has challenged a proposed Kenya-U.S. agreement to develop Mrima Hill’s minerals. Details of that agreement have not been disclosed. In a June 22 petition, the group asked the High Court in Kwale, a coastal town near Mrima Hill, to suspend the agreement until residents and their leaders are consulted. The group argued that the bidding process lacked transparency and public participation.
Kenya’s attorney general challenged the court’s jurisdiction, according to the group’s lawyer. The Centre for Litigation Trust says a ruling on that objection is scheduled for Nov. 6. No court order currently blocks implementation of the agreement, and the government has not publicly explained how the agreement relates to the tender.
Residents and advocates are also seeking details about how the minerals would be extracted. Fakii Omar of the Kwale Mining Alliance, an advocacy group for mining-affected communities, said: “We don’t know anything about the extraction method. Will it be open-pit mining, and what will be the impact on the environment and on health?” The National Environment Management Authority did not respond to questions about environmental assessment, public consultation and the approval process.
RareX, the Australian rare earths exploration company, said its consortium’s proposal called for securing community support before mining begins and protecting residents, the environment and cultural heritage. The consortium also proposed further study to determine whether the deposit could support underground mining.
Mwero said residents want a voice in decisions about their future. “We want an open forum to discuss our concerns. We are the custodians of this land, and we should be the ones negotiating over it,” he said. The five proposals remain under technical review, the extraction method has not been disclosed, and the government has not explained how the proposed Kenya-U.S. agreement relates to the tender.