Court declines to halt Itare Dam project in Mau Forest

The construction of the controversial Itare dam will continue pending determination of a petition by the Kipsigis Council of Elders seeking to stop the project, the High Court has ruled.

The Environment and Lands Court in Nakuru declined to issue conservatory orders sought by the elders opposed to that multibillion dam that will benefit residents of Nakuru and neighbouring towns.

The court needs to hear the elders' petition filed before further directions can be issued, Justice Munyao ruled.

“The court will have to hear the contents of the petition before making any directions. The parties are in the meantime allowed to serve each other with documents,” he said on Thursday.

SH38BN DAM

The Kipsigis Council of Elders sued on September 17 in a bid to stop the construction of the Sh38 billion dam in Ndoinet, Kuresoi North, Nakuru County.

The group claimed the water reservoir would divert rivers from Mau and Ndoinet forests to Nakuru and Baringo counties.

The elders, led by their chairman Joseph Kimetto, sought a permanent injunction barring the Rift Valley Water Services Board, Water Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa and Attorney-General Githu Muigai from continuing with the dam.

They wanted the court to order the parties to restore the site to its original state.

RAILA ROW

Through lawyer Kipkoech Ng’etich, the elders claimed the government had initiated the project without consulting them and other key stakeholders.

The 57-metre-high dam, which is expected to produce 100,000 cubic metres of water a day, will have three permanent tributaries: the Sondu, Ndoinet and Songol rivers.

Initial works had begun before the controversy broke out.

Last week, Cord leader Raila Odinga claimed senior Jubilee government officials were seeking to divert water from the Mau Forest to their personal properties in Naivasha and Ruiru.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

He challenged President Uhuru Kenyatta to come clean on the matter and assure Kenyans that he was not using the project for personal gain.

The Cord leader said the government was bulldozing the project against the wishes of residents of the surrounding counties who, he claimed, were bound to suffer immensely if it is implemented.

He said there was no public participation in the process and only Nakuru people had been consulted.

POSE THREATS

In an affidavit sworn in court, the elders noted that the construction of the dam would turn their areas arid and pose a threat to their lives.

The petitioners claimed the Rift Valley Water Services Board, which is implementing the project, failed to consider the impact and magnitude of the project on the ecosystem.

Mr Ng’etich on Thursday told the lands court that the government had started constructing roads in the area, despite the ongoing case in court.

The court was told that Kenyans and Kuresoi residents stood to suffer since the government was planning to launch the construction of the project within the course of this month.

WORLD BANK

“I pray that the court protects the residents and taxpayers money by issuing the orders since we have information that President Uhuru Kenyatta is intending to use launch the project in a week’s time,” said Mr Ng'etich.

According to the lawyer, it is an issue of concern because the World Bank will start releasing funds for the project once it is launched and that it was likely to affect the proceedings of the case.

Justice Munyao, however, directed that the case be mentioned November 4 to set a hearing date.

ITALY FIRM

The dam is expected to supply more than 800,000 residents of Kuresoi, Molo, Njoro, Rongai, Nakuru Town and neighbouring Kericho County with clean water.

The project is the largest of its kind undertaken in the South Rift after the Sh5.5 billion Chemususu Dam, which President Kenyatta commissioned earlier this year.

The project is undertaken by Muratori and Cementitsti of Ravenna, Italy, which won the tender in September 2014.

DESERT FEARS

In his statement last week, Mr Odinga likened the Itare project to the Northern Water Collector Tunnel, whose impact he has previously said will turn large parts of the country into a desert.

He said the Itare dam project would divert several rivers, including Songol, Kipsonoi, Itare Ndoinet, Sise, Itare Kiptiget, Itare Chemosit, Timbilil, Diony Soet, Yurith, Kipchorian, Chemosir and Jamju in Bomet and Kericho counties at the source in the Mau Forest.

The rivers feed rivers Sondu, Gucha, Mara, Nyando and Migori.

According to Mr Odinga, if implemented, the project will turn the eight surrounding counties — Narok, Bomet, Kericho, Kisii, Nyamira, Kisumu, Homa Bay and Migori — into deserts.