The scandals of the stalled Arror and Kimwarer dams is still much talked about, damaging the development record of the Jubilee administration in Elgeyo Marakwet and in the North Rift.
Construction of other mega projects, meanwhile, is being stepped up as President Uhuru Kenyatta wants to leave behind a legacy of development.
The President cancelled the Kimwarer Dam and scaled back the Arror Dam, which was to go ahead in an area where residents desperately need water.
Construction never began on the two scandal-plagued projects costing about Sh65 billion. Loans were taken out and money paid but virtually nothing was done.
Kimwarer would have been a geological disaster; it was to be built on a seismic fault. The last feasibility study was done 28 years ago. It was neither technically feasible nor viable.
Former Treasury CS Henry Rotich, PS Kamau Thugge and officials of the Kerio Valley Development Authority were charged. A total of 28 officials were charged initially.
Residents want Kimwarer to be scaled back and Arror to go ahead.
KVDA Chief Executive Officer Sammy Laporos on Sunday declined to comment on why the scaled-back Arror Dam project has not gone ahead. In six months he has initiated far-reaching reforms to make KVDA more effective and repair its image battered by the dams' affair.
"We are still waiting for word from the government on the Arror project that we had hoped would help transform our lives," community leader Jackson Kiptoo said at Arror.
Lapros said KVDA was working on other projects that had been stalled by the Covid-19 pandemic, floods and locusts.
“We have resumed work on most of the projects to ensure they are completed and we are also ensuring our employees fully adhere to Covid-19 control measures," he told the Star.
Naporos said KVDA had been forced to suspend flagship projects worth billions of shillings, including those funded through partnership with donors.
Many workers had been sent away following the outbreak of Covid-19 and flooding but some have been recalled to resume work.
Locusts invaded some KVDA irrigation projects but the Agriculture ministry fought off the swarms.
The Sh300 million Phase III of the Wei Weii irrigation project covers 1,000 acres of maize in West Pokot county. Naporos said food security projects including the Loyapat and Napuu irrigation schemes had also been set back by the locust invasion.
“The swarms of locusts had caused extensive damage to our sorghum and maize farms under irrigation but we are reviving implementation," Naporos said.
The affected KVDA projects are in West Pokot, Turkana, Elgeyo Marakwet and parts of Samburu counties.
Work is also resuming on the Sh434 million Chepkum irrigation project and the Sh59 million Lomut scheme in Sigor area.
“We were actually moving very fast with implementation of the projects when the natural calamities affected us but we now hope to move with speed and complete ongoing work," Naporos said.
(Edited by V. Graham)
