NAIROBI- The Construction of Kimwarer, Arror and Itare dams, which were subjected to court cases, will resume in a matter of months, President William Ruto has announced.
Speaking at a joint press briefing with visiting Italian President Sergio Mattarella at State House Nairobi, President Ruto said the two sides had discussed and reached a deal on the issues, which are currently before courts.
President Ruto said Kenya had agreed to withdraw the suits against the Italian companies that had been given the contracts one month.
In the same breath, he said, the companies also agreed to withdraw arbitration cases against the government of Kenya and as a result, the construction is set to resume “in a matter of months”.
“I’m proud to announce that the three dams, which were subjected to court cases and court matters, will resume construction in a few months,” the President said.
Ruto added that Kenya and Italy had following the bilateral talks agreed to review the financing of the three water projects, as he seeks to deliver on his electoral plegdges on water security.
“The terms of the facilities will also be renegotiated so that we can provide for the delivery of the dams and implementation of projects,” the President said.
The construction of the dams stalled almost three years ago after a technical team appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2019 cancelled the Sh22.2 billion Kimwarer dam as it was overpriced”, and ordered a review of the Sh28.3 billion Arror dam, whose design was scaled down from 96 metres to 60 metres.
“The optimised dam will be technically viable since it will only require about 250 acres and cost Sh15.4 billion with power and Sh13.1 billion without power. The dam was previously estimated to cost Sh28.3 billion,” State House spokesperson at the time Kanze Dena said.
There is also an ongoing case in which former National Treasury CS Henry Rotich, his PS Kamau Thugge – now Ruto’s economic adviser – alongside four others were charged with conspiracy to defraud and abuse of office, which resulted in the alleged loss of Sh63 billion in 2019.
Itare Dam, which is in Kuresoi North, Nakuru county, has stalled since September 2018, when the contractor left the site citing financial reasons. Its completion was slated for April 2021.
At the same time. President Ruto announced that his government will receive up to Sh14 billion in form of grants and soft loans from the Italian government.
The amount, the President said, will be used to finance projects in agriculture, development of MSMEs, housing and urban settlements, digital superhighway and the creative economy and health. The projects will be done through the Kenya-Italy Multi annual five-year cooperation strategy on sustainable development.
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