Community leaders in Kwale, Kenya, are deeply troubled by a Canadian mining company’s plans to turn thousands of acres of forest and farmland on Kenya’s eastern coast into a $150 million titanium strip mine. Opponents of the massive mining project charge that it is fraught with corruption and would devastate a fragile ecosystem, as well as force about 4,500 people out of their homes. The Canadian company, Tiomin Resources, has offered some compensation to locals who hold title deeds to their land, but critics contend that its offers are far below market rate and point out that most of the local farmers don’t hold title to the lands they live and work on. The Kenyan government, which is desperate for foreign investment and widely considered to be corrupt, favors the mining project, though it has yet to give it the final go-ahead.
