SAND HARVESTING: THE ADEQUACY OF THE NATIONAL AND COUNTY LEGAL FRAMEWORK IN DETERMINING COMPLIANCE IN MACHAKOS COUNTY ERASTUS K GITONGA A60/68678/2013

 The law in Kenya is wanting as far as regulation of sand harvesting is concerned. The Mining Act, 1940 and the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA) of 1999 did not perceive sand harvesting as a problem that needs legislation.  The grim situation has not been improved by devolution as yet as county legislation is yet to provide a solution to the menace.  The closest effort is the Sand Harvesting Guidelines published by NEMA in 2008.

 In Machakos county, the effects of unregulated sand harvesting are very manifest (J ANGALUKA, 2011).In essence, lower eastern Kenya is especially affected (NEMA, 2008).  Sand harvesting has continually led to destruction of the environment, change of river flow, conflicts over resources use, water scarcity in the region, oil spills in the rivers, high levels of school drop outs, high rates of alcoholism and drug abuse, high rates of unwanted pregnancies, road damages and high rates of HIV infections, among other many ills.(Kitunga and Murungi, 2013).

 Sand harvesting is by no doubt an activity that is of economic benefit to a cross section of Kenyans. Sand is a building material and therefore a necessity for the proliferating construction projects in the country.  Unsustainable scooping of this resource has caused soil erosion and deep gullies. The activities have also led to loss of water for livestock and domestic use (NEMA,2008).  Sand harvesting should actually be subjected to environmental impact assessments so that its impact can be controlled.(NEMA, 2008).

 Law seeks to enforce compliance and without a law, then compliance is likely to elude us. Most sand harvesters are well aware of this predicament and have taken the activity of sand harvesting as private and un regulated. Its free for all.  Gangs and criminal groupings have developed among the riverine communities in not only Machakos but nationally.  There is a gap in literature on the adequacy of laws regulating sand harvesting.

 Different methods will be used and the obtained information triangulated.  It is sought to employ questionnaires, semi structured interviews, document review and perhaps sensitive issues reflections.  Respondents will include the County government of Machakos, National Environment Management Authority, local administration, affected villagers and the organized sand harvesting groups.

 Sample size will be arrived at on the basis of simple random and spatial sampling technique.  A stakeholder workshop will be necessary for purposes of questionnaire distribution in data collection.  I plan to use MS Excel spreadsheets Ms word tools and Statistical package for social scientists (SPSS) version 20 to analyze data collected.  Hard copies of the questionnaire and other documents will be safely stored in a file while the results will be electronically stored.

ActivitiesAugustAugust SeptemberSeptember OctoberOctober NovemberNovember DecemberDecember Designing questionnaires and semi-structured questions√ Pre testing questionnaires in the County√ Field visits to the County to collect data√√√ Data analysis and interpretation√ Report writing and documentation√ Thesis submission and examination√

 My budget proposal is as follows a)Towards stationary and printing- Ksh 80,000 b) Towards travelling expenses - Ksh 120,000 c) 1 Stakeholder workshop - Ksh 50,000 d) Assistant allowance - Ksh 40,000 e) Miscellaneous - Ksh 20,000 Total Ksh. 310,000/.

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