Two people lost their lives today in Ramula, Gem Yala, after a demonstration against Shanta Gold’s mining operations turned fatal.

The victims were part of a group of residents protesting the occupation of their ancestral land, known locally as Ramula, a Dholuo name meaning “full of gold.”

Witnesses say the two were shot during an altercation between demonstrators and police officers deployed to quell the unrest at the trading center.

Gem Yala sub county police commander Charles Wafula told Kondele News that the demonstrators invaded Ramula Police Post, “And began pelting stones at the officers. They destroyed many things, the told lost their lives in the process.”

Tension remains high at the gold rich Ramula area with many businesses shut.

The violence is the latest escalation in a long-standing dispute over Shanta Gold’s license to conduct open-pit mining in the region.

While the company and local authorities insist that the project will modernize the area, many residents fear the loss of their livelihoods and cultural heritage.

The scale of the project is immense. Siaya County Commissioner Jara Komora recently confirmed that 1,286 households across eight villages will be affected.

While Shanta Gold has begun constructing “model houses” for vulnerable families, built to international standards according to company geologist Austine Ochieng, the community remains deeply divided.

As retrieval and investigative efforts begin, the deaths in Ramula paints growing tension between international extractive and the rights of local “Project Affected Persons” (PAPs).