Geita. After waiting 26 years for compensation over land affected by mining operations, a group of elderly residents in Geita is seeking to become miners themselves.
Members of Kamati ya Vigingi, representing residents of Nyakabale and Nyamalembo, have asked the Government to help them secure a mining licence following the settlement of their long-running compensation dispute with Geita Gold Mining Limited (GGML).
Minerals Minister Anthony Mavunde at the weekend directed the Mining Commission to facilitate the request, instructing the group to formally organise itself before suitable mineral ground is identified.
The move follows compensation payments to residents who said they had been unable to fully develop or economically use their land after it was earmarked for mining activities.
Thobias Mabula, leader of Kamati ya Vigingi, told Mr Mavunde that the affected residents had lived on the land for generations but faced restrictions on development while waiting for compensation.
The committee’s name comes from the vigingi-beacons placed in the affected areas to mark land associated with mining operations.
In August 2025, the Ministry of Minerals described the Nyakabale and Nyamalembo dispute as having lasted more than 26 years and announced the start of compensation after GGML agreed to pay affected residents.
By March 2026, GGML had projected compensation payments of about Sh70 billion, subject to completion of valuation, verification and contractual procedures.
Mr Mabula told the minister that the residents had since received their compensation and were now seeking to participate in the mining industry that has shaped their communities for decades.
The elders asked Mr Mavunde to help them secure mineral ground where they could undertake mining collectively. The minister accepted the request and directed the Mining Commission to guide them through group formation and the licensing process.
He said the Commission should consider areas being returned to the Government after licences are cancelled or surrendered by holders who have failed to develop them.
In April, Mr Mavunde ordered the cancellation of 40 prospecting licences covering about 188,163 acres after their holders failed to develop the areas despite being given notices to rectify breaches.
The Ministry said the recovered areas would be returned to the Government for redistribution to small-scale miners, capable investors and targeted groups.
For the elders, the request marks a shift in their relationship with the mining industry. For more than two decades, their involvement centred on restrictions on land use and the struggle for compensation.
Now, they want to participate directly in the economic activity around them.
The elders also presented two cows to President Samia Suluhu Hassan as a gesture of appreciation for the Government’s intervention. Mr Mavunde received the gift on her behalf.