Nyeri residents oppose Sh6bn solar plant
Mathari MCA Baragu Mutahi (centre) addressing the media outside Nyeri County Assembly on October 30, 2016. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Residents see plan as a move to grab their land.
- Kenya Power CEO said he did not enter into any agreement with the solar firm or county government.
Nyeri residents and ward reps have opposed a Sh6 billion solar power plant funded by an international investor citing irregularities in the contract.
The residents also said they had not been consulted on their preferred project, noting that the public participation conducted over the handing over of the community land to the investor was biased.
“The recent encroachment on our land by strange surveyors is locally treated as a corrupt move by the county government to grab it,” said the residents in a memorandum to the National Land Commission.
In response to a statement by Mathari MCA Baragu Mutahi, the county executive for energy Robert Thuo said the necessary tendering process had been followed and a competitive bidder chosen, Khumar Associates.
However, Mr Mutahi said the county executive’s report was not satisfactory and demanded another one.
“The project might be good but it has a lot of hidden facts that need to come to light,” he said.
Construction of the solar project on a 134-acre community land, aimed at producing 40 megawatts to be injected into the national grid was an initiative of the county.
Meanwhile, Kenya Power chief executive officer Ben Chumo denied that claims that the electricity firm entered into an agreement with the solar power investor or the county government.
