Miners break myth to reap from gemstone
Hundreds of feet beneath the grounds of gemstone mining fields of Taita Taveta lies a vast fortune. It is also said there are colossal deposits of gemstones and other high-value precious stones; Tsavorite, Tanzanite, rubies and tourmalines.
Such riches radiate irresistible allure. For ages, droves of miners have flocked to the mines to lay a stake in this high-risk sector where fortunes are made and lost in a flash.
Only the strong at heart survive. The land is spectacularly hostile; the environment is harsh; the weather is brutal and unforgiving.
Still, the grim odds are fair. For miners under the spell of this hidden wealth, the risks are acceptable because the rewards, when they come, are often enormous and life-changing.
However, this subterranean fortune is laced with spooky superstitions and creepy tales. From the plains of Mkuki in Mwatate to the towering cliffs of Kasigau in Voi and sun-scorched Kishushe in Wundanyi, armies of scruffy artisanal miners with an undying affinity for the supernatural tale of those strange tales in hushed tones.
They speak of nameless malignant spirits that frustrate miners. Others talk of mysterious forces that wield control over rubies. These spirits are the gatekeepers; ultimate guardians of the doorway to the kingdom of eternal wealth.
“Such myths exist. These should not have a place in the modern mining sector,” says Rev David Zowe, a veteran miner and Taita-Taveta Artisanal Miners Association chair. For years, miners believed one’s success or failure depended on the temperament of these capricious spirits.
If happy, the spirits turned benevolent and shepherded a miner to where his fortune awaited. If upset, they would mete out vicious penalties. Like Sisyphus in Greek mythology, a miner would forever labour in the earth’s bowels without ever finding what he sought.
To appease them, miners engaged in esoteric rites to pacify the spirits, increase chances of finding elusive gemstones and keep harm at bay. Sheep were slaughtered and hot blood sprinkled in the tunnels and rusty coins were tossed inside the mines.
The most bizarre ritual involved bedding mentally feeble women believed to be talismans of good luck. “It is all nonsense! Those are false beliefs,” explains Peris Mlamba, a 74-year-old miner from Wundanyi. She terms the superstitions as retrogressive and unchristian; a fossilized remnant from a long-gone era where communities believed in witchcraft.
She argues that linking gemstones with Satanism has only worked to keep thousands of residents away from the sector and thereby exacerbating the poverty situation in the region. When she disclosed her intention to try her luck in the mines, neighbours gawked at her in shock and dread.
They talked of the mines’ murky history and said gemstones carried a curse. She shrugged it away, saying emphatically;
“I am a Christian and I know that gemstones are God’s gift to us. There is nothing demonic about them.”
God’s blessings
In a display of wisdom that comes with age, she terms gemstone as the only resource Taita Taveta County could benefit from. “Each region has its resources. Nyanza has fish, Central has coffee and Rift Valley has tea. Taita has gemstones. This is our share of God’s blessings,” she says.
Mlamba embodies a new generation of artisanal miners who have embraced pragmatism to fight off quirky beliefs and superstition as a way of encouraging more residents to join the mining sector.
That hoaxes, superstitions and retrogressive cultural beliefs have held sway in a sector that could transform lives in a region buckling under the yoke of extreme poverty are not in doubt.
Such cultural factors are used as examples of how traditions could be catalysts for poverty by repulsing suffering locals from a sector famed for creating billionaires. Ironically, other investors, impervious to the whims of these spirits, have made large fortunes from the mines.
Debauchery, wild merrymaking and unbridled extravagance that miners engage in after selling gemstones further fuel the beliefs that gemstone money is jinxed. In the 90s, a miner who got millions became a legend after turning Voi and Mwatate towns into his fiefdom. He hired dozens of top-of-the-range vehicles that escorted him whenever he went. He even had a live-band tag along to entertain.
In pubs, he would pick up all bills, buy all the beer and tip revellers who called him ‘boss.’ In another bizarre incident, a young miner took up residence in a five-star hotel after selling gemstones. It is said he spent most of his days in a white bathrobe, sipping wine and taking photos of his opulence.
When bored, he strolled along corridors hunting for valets to provoke into a fight. He knew he could pay them off. Evil spirits Recently, a young miner became a fleeting sensation after hiring boda boda riders to escort him from Mwatate to Kasigau; almost 100 kilometres away.
Once there, he ordered a bartender to wash his dusty bike with beer instead of water. “Such profligacy comes from lack of financial literacy and it is the shortest path back to poverty. When such a fortune is lost, people blame it on evil spirits,” explains Rev Zowe.
This explains the heart-breaking tales of miners who lost millions and returned the backbreaking labour in the mines with nothing.
Through the Mining Act of 2016, the Ministry of Mining has been progressively fighting poverty amongst miners.
