Sh25bn more allocated for dams despite audit queries

Parliament’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee chairperson Kareke Mbiuki. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By CONSTANT MUNDA
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Summary

• Some Sh25 billion allocated for construction of dams in the financial year starting July.
• Ongoing building of dams first came under sharp public scrutiny in February after the DCI launched a probe into circumstances under which Sh21 billion was paid to an insolvent Italian company, CMC di Ravena, for construction of the Kimwarer and Arror dams in Elgeyo Marakwet.
• Dams are a priority area for the Jubilee administration which is seeking to reduce Kenya’s over-reliance on erratic rainfall to support farming and electricity generation.

Some Sh25 billion has been allocated for the ongoing construction of dams in the financial year starting July, amid questions over previous use of money for the projects.

The expenditure plan for fiscal year 2019-20 tabled before the National Assembly end of April shows dams will account for more than a third of the Sh72.3 billion earmarked for projects in the broader sector of agriculture and food security, water and irrigation.

This is despite unresolved accountability queries which has caught the attention of lawmakers and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

The National Assembly Committee on Environment and Natural Resources in March stopped the building of 24 dams until due diligence is done on their viability and how land owners will be compensated.

The legislators asked the investigative agencies – DCI and the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) – to focus on projects financed under the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Financing (EPCF) model.