"Relocated for a Mine Project, Kenyans Say Compensation Was Unfair or Missing"

...Nine years ago, hundreds of people were forced to move from Maumba village to make space for mineral sands mining. The mining company gave her about 3.9 million shillings ($38,532), Maingi says...This was compensation for her 18 hectares (45 acres) of land, trees, her parents’ grave sites, two houses and other structures within the homestead where she lived with her two sons and her brother. She says the company paid a measly amount for her coconut trees. “We were never consulted on how much we would earn per tree,” Maingi says. “I used to harvest coconuts worth 8,000 shillings [$79] every month. When I was moved, I had to grow new coconut trees.”...

Nearly a decade after the village eviction, many of its former residents, including Maingi , say they got a raw deal from Base Titanium, the mining company...Officials at Base Titanium say that every person who was displaced was adequately compensated, and that the company has even initiated development projects for their benefit, including hospitals and schools...Joe Schwarz, Base Titanium’s general manager of external affairs and development, says the company brokered an agreement with local landowners through the District Resettlement and Compensation Committee. Every household affected by the resettlement was given a piece of land and money as compensation for assets, Schwarz says.