The government has suspended work on the Sh5.6 billion Eldoret southern bypass project over compensation row and issuance of fake title deeds.
The contractor has been forced to suspend work following the compensation rows by those to be displaced.
The Star has established that three top officials of the Ministry of Lands have been transferred after several individuals were given fake title deeds for land belonging to Moi Barracks. The land will partly be used for the bypass project. The matter is under investigation.
The government would have lost Sh400 million in payout if it had compensated those given the fake title deeds.
Families affected have been protesting over delayed compensation, saying the project had taken almost a year with no clear communication on the compensation plan.
The project is funded by the African Development Bank.
NLC vice chairperson Abigael Mbagaya was expected to visit the region two weeks ago to finalise the compensation plans for the families but the tour was called off.
Landowner Joseph Samoei said they will stop any work on the project until they are paid.
“We signed agreements with the National Land Commission, but a year later, we are not being told what is happening,” he said during a landowners meeting in Eldoret town on Thursday.
Uasin Gishu governor Jackson Mandago has on several occasions met officials from the NLC and from the Kenya National Highways Authority to help speed up the project. However, the row on compensation has remained unresolved.
Members of Kokwatai Cooperative Society, whose land will be affected, will this week meet the Senate Committee on Infrastructure to discuss the compensation dispute. “There are so many issues around compensation that have caused the project to delay,” Kokwatai group chairman Kipkorir Menjo said.
Last month the government said it had released Sh800 million to compensate more than 1,500 families, who will be displaced to pave way for the bypass construction.
The money was to be paid out to the families by the NLC before building work starts in two months time.
Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi assured the families they will be paid soon and the bypass will ease traffic congestion in Eldoret town.
“This is a vital project that will ease the movement of goods and people through Eldoret town,” Sudi said.
The bypass will run from Ngeria on the Eldoret-Nairobi road, through areas next to the Eldoret Airport before linking with the Eldoret-Webuye road in Leseru.