- The projects attracted a lot of controversy during then President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration.
- Kerio Valley Development Authority board chairman said the Cabinet had approved the start of the implementation of the dams.
Image: FILE
The multi-billion shillings Arror and Kimwarer dams that authorities believe will solve water shortage in the drought-prone Kerio Valley region will soon be relaunched.
Kerio Valley Development Authority board chairman Mark Chesergon said they are in the process of developing an implementation road map for the mega-dam projects.
The projects attracted a lot of controversy during then President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration.
Chesergon, who did not specify the exact period that the Sh63 billion irrigation and hydroelectric projects would begin, said the Cabinet had approved the start of the implementation of the dams in Elgeyo Marakwet county.
“The Cabinet has approved the settlement agreement for the resumption of the Arror and Kimwarer dams and, as an authority, we have developed a roadmap that will see the launch of its implementation once we are ready,” he said.
Chesergon made the remarks when he led the KVDA board, management and other stakeholders in a tree planting exercise. Tree and fruit seedlings numbering 200,000 were distributed and planted in Chepyor, Keiyo North subcounty.
The controversy surrounding the two projects saw the cancellation of Kimwarer and the scaling down of Arror.
Kenya agreed with Italy on the resumption of the two stalled projects following between President William Ruto and his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella in March last year.
Senior government officials have since been visiting the sites, where the mega dams are to be built.
Chesergon added that the agency was also implementing several other water and irrigation projects across their areas of operation.
“KVDA is also sustaining Kamsiwet and Chepkum irrigation projects in Elgeyo Marakwet, Weiwei in West Pokot and Napuu in Turkana counties, among others,” he said.
The agency is also starting a new irrigation project in Samburu.
KVDA managing director Sammy Naporos said theagency is committing Sh700 million received from the national government for conservation of water pans and planting tree and fruit seedlings in Kerio Valley region.
Eight water pan projects in Elgeyo Marakwet, West Pokot and Baringo counties, he said, are at different stages of implementation.
A number of the water pans and small dams have harvested adequate amount of water during the ongoing rains experienced in the region.
“Fifty per cent of the water pans and small dams are complete and have harvested rainwater. These are long-term projects aimed at ensuring constant supply of water,” he said.
KVDA has established several mega nurseries, each with more than 300,000 tree and fruit seedlings in West Pokot, Turkana, Samburu, Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo Marakwet, where members of the community can easily access the seedlings.
The MD, however, said that the ongoing heavy rains have not damaged the irrigation projects undertaken by KVDA in the four counties.
He said that the agency has been licenced to produce coffee seedlings, and in the next one year, it plans to produce one million coffee seedlings to be planted along the 70km Spencer line from Eldama Ravine in Baringo county to Embobut in Elgeyo Marakwet.
The are has been adversely affected due to environmental degradation caused by changing land use systems.
“The destruction of the Spencer line over time along the hanging valley has caused massive environmental degradation leading to land and mudslides during the heavy rains,” Naporos said.