Residents of Marakwet West who are opposed to the construction of the Sh30 billion Arror Dam have accused police of intimidating them to accept the project.
They said police stormed Kipsaiya village, where the dam will be constructed,
and shot several times into the air to scare the dissidents on Saturday night.
“We are being victimised
and targeted by security officials because of our opposition to the construction of the dam in our village,” a resident who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation told the Star.
The project, whose construction was to
start this month, has faced opposition from residents who claim they were not consulted.
The construction of the dam is to be implemented by the Kerio Valley Development Authority.
The project
is financed by the Italian government whose citizens were chased away by irate
villagers on Wednesday last week.
Police who shot into the air were from Kapsowar police station. They arrived in two Landcruisers, residents said yesterday.
“They
arrested one person who was nursing a patient at
Kapsowar Mission Hospital. They accused him of opposing a government project,”
another resident said.
Those who have strongly opposed the project no longer sleep in their houses for fear of arrest.
The Star saw several used ammunition cartridges collected by villagers after the Saturday shooting.
Marakwet West police boss Apollo Onyonyi refused to comment on the matter.
“I'm not going to speak to you about this
matter. As police officers, we must do our work in the best way we know,”
Onyonyi said.
