The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company is accusing some Naivasha farmers of inciting their colleagues to oppose the ongoing electricity transmission project in the area.
While confirming that all affected families had been compensated, the company said that public participation had been conducted before the project was undertaken.
This came as farmers from five villages in Naivasha threatened to go to court to stop ongoing projects citing failure by the power company to compensate them.
The farmers from Rurii, Highland, Gitiiro, Muteithia and Maraigushu villages accused the company of failing to compensate them before undertaking the multi-million project.
But in a rejoinder the company accused some of the farmers for inciting others to decline the offer of compensation laid out in its guidelines.
In a statement signed by the company’s head of corporate communications Raphael Mworia, Ketraco said the farmers rejected the offer and exaggerated prices above market rates.
“We are in the process of paying most of the affected persons but there are a few who have ganged up and demanded excessive way leave compensation which we cannot justify,” he said.
Mworia said they had extensively consulted with the project affected persons in the area and the entire line since 2014.
The valuations used in paying were agreed upon between them and their elected leaders and elders way back in 2016, however this is not outright purchase but compensation for way leave access,” he said.
Speaking after a peaceful demonstration last week, group spokesman Francis Wachira said the company had resulted in using police officers to threaten them while conducting their work.
Wachira said residents in the area have had no peace since the company began its projects, with tens of families being displaced without proper compensation.
He said most of the farmers had not been paid as required by law adding that they were being ejected from their farms that they have known as home for decades.
“The company came here last year and we agreed that they will first do thorough compensation before beginning their work but this has not been the case,” he said.
Wachira said officers from the company had resulted to insults and forcing them to accept the government project yet payments had not been made.
“They are taking huge chunks of our land and in areas where they promised to compensate us nothing has happened and they have deployed heavy machinery destroying our crops,” he said.
