Elders from nine counties oppose Sh38b Nakuru dam project

Kipsigis, Luo council of Elders up in arms against Itare Dam. (Photo:Courtesy)

Elders from nine counties in Nyanza and South Rift regions have vowed to sue the Government over the construction of the Sh38 billion Itare Dam in Rift Valley.

In a day-long closed-door meeting yesterday in Kisumu, elders drawn from Nandi, Narok, Bomet, Kericho, Kisumu, Siaya, Homa Bay, Migori, Kisii and Nyamira resolved to use all avenues, including going to court to stop the project which they said would adversely affect the said counties.

The meeting was co-chaired by Luo Council of Elders Chairman Ker Willis Otondi and his Kipsigis counterpart Joseph Kimetto.

And in what appeared to be a budding alliance between the communities, the elders said they were also working on a special grouping that will help them tackle social, political, cultural and economic issues affecting them.

In a joint press statement, Kipsigis Council of Elders Secretary general Edwin Kimetto hinted at a political union of elders from the nine counties in all future matters may affect them.

They, however, said the Itare project was of immediate concern and vowed to have it stopped.

"This project is being executed against the will of the people. To start with, populations living downstream, and thus the beneficiaries of Mau Forest water tower, were not consulted yet they stand to be affected," Mr Kimetto said.

He said when the 800,000 people who are set to benefit from the project cannot be compared with the over 80 million in Nyanza region all the way to Jinja who rely on Mau which is a major source of many rivers which go to Lake Victoria.

"The execution of this project came long before the assessment report was released. The project started in July 2015, yet the assessment report, whose recommendations the Government has decided to sweep under the carpet, came out in December, months after the start of the project," Kimetto explained.

In November, the Kipsigis Council of Elders went to court seeking to stop the project but the Environment and Lands Court in Nakuru declined to issue conservatory orders sought.

Kimetto added: "We later established that just a few people from Nakuru and Kipkelion West were incorporated in the deliberations. That could not be representative of masses."