Compensation hiccups hit Sh24b Gatundu dam – Weekly Citizen

water dam

A fresh storm has hit the construction of the Karimenu II Dam in Gatundu North, Kiambu, which is expected to supplement water supply to Ruiru and Juja towns and their environs. The dam construction is expected to be completed by December 2020, according analysts.
Early February, the government started compensating farmers who will be displaced from their farms by the construction of the dam.
The construction was expected to begin as soon as more than 5,000 families who will be affected are compensated.
The first phase of Sh400 million compensation for 118 farmers was completed in February.
According to the Water ministry, more than 5,000 families will be compensated.
The project is funded by the government and the China Exim Bank and is expected to be ready by December 2020.
Then Water and Irrigation cabinet secretary Eugene Wamalwa visited the region where he said the dam would give 850,000 Kenyans access to clean water and promised that the affected families would get full compensation before the project commenced.
But now, the residents are claiming that the government shortchanged them.
The residents say that the local administration is harassing those questioning the poor payments they are getting compensation.
Late last month, government officials led by Water cabinet secretary Simon Chelugui, outgoing National Land Commission bosses and local leaders met the residents and agreed to pay Sh3 million per acre but the figure was brought down to Sh2.6 million per acre without an explanation.
Recently, villagers from Kanyoni called on the government to compensate them fully before they can pave way for the construction of the dam.
The demand followed claims that some government officials were working behind the scenes to reduce the compensation amounts that were agreed on earlier.
The residents were speaking at Kiriko Coffee Factory during a meeting organised by nominated MCA Lawrence Kariuki.
Later, Lands cabinet secretary Farida Karoney, Chelugui and a host of Kiambu leaders led by Governor Ferdinand Waititu met the residents and agreed to pay Sh3 million per acre.
The farmers said they want a one-off compensation before they can surrender their pieces of land.
But the following day, the farmers woke up to find anonymous leaflets scattered across Gituamba warning them that the government, through relevant ministries, would evaluate and assess their land afresh or reduce the monetary value of the crops on their farms in a bid to reduce their compensation amounts by more than half of what they have been waiting for.
The author of the leaflets claimed he was a government official working with the ministry of Land and is privy to the deliberations made by various committees concerned with the dam’s compensation process.