Troubled Italian firm CMC Di Ravena has moved to Kerio Valley to start work on the Arror and Kimwarer dam projects amid DCI investigation of possible loss of funds.
The projects will cost Sh65 billion. The DCI is investigating possible loss of more than Sh21 billion which was an advance payment to the Italian company.
More than 20 people including Finance CS Henry Rotich and Kerio Valled Development Authority CEO David Kimosop have been questioned.
Kimosop said the projects were going on as planned and claims of graft in tendering and implementation were untrue.
"The engineers are on the ground working as planned," Kimosop said yesterday.
The engineers are carrying out initial studies on rocks and soils in the area before actual construction starts.
Families whose land will be taken are yet to be moved. The projects will cover 6,500 acres.
The National Land Commission has already gazetted the land and notified residents that it would be acquired.
KVDA has identified 11 plots in Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia counties where the families will be resettled.
The resettlement will be done through a land to land compensation but the families will be paid for the developments on the land.
Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos told the more than 1,000 families in Kerio Valley to take back their land until further notice.
“The emerging scandals have caused a lot of confusion and those whose land was be acquired should go back and use it," Tolgos said in Iten town on Friday
He said the landowners should not wait for "what they don’t know."
The governor said the county will not allow the families to be frustrated by cartels involved in the dam scandals.
Tolgos said many families had in the past lost out after they were not compensated when their land was taken over for public projects.
He blamed Kimosop for the reported scandal.
Residents at Arror, led by Patrick Kasain, said they were in support of the projects and that the community had been fully involved ahead of relocation.
"KVDA been having so many meetings with us here and we understand the process. We do not even expect the resettlement to be hurried. It is being done as per the law and with great care," Kasain said.
He accused leaders of politicising the projects.
Tolgos wants President Uhuru Kenyatta to ensure any money lost is recovered.
The two dams are expected to supply water for irrigation in Kerio Valley.
Tolgos said he was opposed to the manner in which the projects were being implemented by the KVDA. The authority, he said, did not involve stakeholders.
“The challenge has been the leadership of Kimosop, whose activities have messed up the succesful start of these projects,” Tolgos said in a statement on Tuesday.
“I’m not the only governor who has raised the red flag on his operations. My West Pokot, Baringo and Turkana counterparts have called for the disbandment of KVDA if Kimosop continues to mismanage the authority."
He said underhand dealings perpetuated by cartels should not cause the projects to stall.