President William Ruto has announced the resumption of the Construction of Kimwarer, Arror and Itare dams which were subjected to court cases.
This follows talks with Italian President Sergio Mattarela who is in the country for a four-day visit.
Speaking on Tuesday at State House, Ruto announced that the government of Kenya and Italy had agreed to withdraw the arbitration cases against the three dams.
"I’m proud to announce that the three dams which were subjected to court cases and court matters, we should be able to go on with the construction of these three dams in a few months," he said.
Ruto said the two countries have committed in good faith to also re-establish cooperation on other water and sanitation programme which are critical to Kenya's agenda on food security, delivery of water and climate action.
He further explained that Kenya and Italy have agreed on a framework to settle all the outstanding court cases and matters surrounding the three dams.
"The terms will also be renegotiated so that we can provide for the delivery of the dams and implementation of projects," Ruto added.
A technical team appointed by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2019 cancelled the Sh22.2 billion Kimwarer dam in Keiyo South sub-county, finding that it was overpriced and was not technically or financially viable.
However, it approved the Sh28.3 billion Arror dam in Marakwet East sub-county.
In the dam fraud case, former National Treasury CS Henry Rotich, his Principal Secretary (PS) Kamau Thugge alongside four others were charged with conspiracy to defraud and abuse of office, which resulted in the loss of Sh63 billion in 2019.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had initially charged 24 individuals in relation to the scandal but has now terminated charges against 15 including Thugge and former East Africa Community PS Susan Jemutai Koech, after they agreed to be prosecution witnesses.
