• Kedong ranch has more than 76,000 acres, has donated 1,000 acres for dry port.
• Area rich in geothermal energy.
Tens of families in Kambi Turkana on Kedong ranch in Naivasha have hours to move from the vast land or face forced eviction to allow for geothermal drilling.
Plans to evict them last month did not materialise after they sought more time to discuss resettlement with the ranch management.
A few days ago, however, Nakuru county commissioner Erastus Mbui visited the area and ordered the families out.
The geothermal company is constructing a multi-billion shilling geothermal plant on 1,000 acres and has sought Sh9 billion capital for the project.
The encroachers have been given ample time to move so investors can embark on their project which includes sourcing for electricity from geothermal.Mbogo Mathioya, Naivasha deputy commissioner
Naivasha deputy county commissioner Mbogo Mathioya said the families will be evicted if they do not move out.
He said the land does not belong to Kedong ranch but the private developer who wants encroachers out.
“The encroachers have been given ample time to move so investors can embark on their project which includes sourcing for electricity from geothermal,” he said.
Speaking during the tour, AKIIRA Geothermal Limited (AGL) spokesman, Anthony Kahindi said the encroachments were obstructing exploratory drilling.
Kahindi said the company aims to finalise preparation of the engineering, procurement, construction, operation and maintenance contracts by end of next year.
AGL is expected to start production drilling and power plant construction for the first phase of 70MW in early 2020 and achieve commercial operation in early 2022, he said.
Kahindi said some human rights organisations and lobbies were frustrating the project's progress through scientifically unfounded reports and malicious allegations.
“We have been accused of all manner of ills by some activists, which are all lies, and we are keen to work with all stakeholders to this project is a success,” he said.
But according to the ranch spokesperson Justus Ekeno, most of them had worked on the ranch for years and knew no other home.
Ekeno asked what criteria was used to resettle members of the Maasai community who live on the nearby parcel.
"There is injustice in the manner this eviction is been carried out as some communities have benefited while others have been left out,” he said.
He said that the eviction would hurt the livelihoods of the families and said they wanted to engage the State and management of the ranch.
"We fully understand that a private firm has acquired land to construct a geothermal plant and all we are asking for is dialogue between us and the management of Kedong,” he said.
Kedong has already donated 4,000 acres to members of the Maasai community who have been displaced by the construction of the Dry Port and Industrial Park in Naivasha.
(Edited by V. Graham)