The Senator Samson Cherargei-led committee gave PS Maringa (pictured) to weeks to submit the report before the committee after it emerged that the team of experts he led did not visit the site for the proposed Kimwarer multipurpose dam in Elgeyo Marakwet before authoring a report which recommended the project’s cancellation/FILE – State Department of Public Works
NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 5 – The Senate Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC) on Thursday issued a 14-day ultimatum for the presentation of a report presented to President Uhuru Kenyatta by a team of experts led by Public Works Principal Secretary Paul Maringa which recommended the cancellation of Kimwarer dam.
The Senator Samson Cherargei-led committee gave PS Maringa two weeks to submit the report before the committee after it emerged that the team of experts, he led did not visit the site for the proposed Kimwarer multipurpose dam in Elgeyo Marakwet County before authoring a report which recommended the project’s cancellation.
“Since you said there is only one copy which is with the president, I want to inform you that we need to rely on the background information of that report for us to be able to progress on this matter. We cannot make progress without looking at the report,” Cherargei said.
“Let me remind you that every citizen in this country has right to information from the State. Therefore, as a committee we are giving you 14 days to produce the report because this issue is not about Elgeyo Marakwet or one area but about all Kenyans.”
Maringa explained the construction was cancelled because the dam sits on a fault line.
He further told the committee the decision to cancel the construction of Kimwarer dam was made even before the technical committee he chaired visited the site.
“We did not visit the site and I only used a helicopter to fly over the arear,” Maringa said.
He said the team only relied on existing documentation on the project to arrive at a decision which informed the cancelation of the project by President Uhuru Kenyatta amid an outcry by a section of Rift Valley politicians led by Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen.
“So, PS you are telling us that you came with a report, proposed a cancellation of a multibillion project which you and your team have never visited?” Murkomen posed.
When asked to furnish the committee with the report, Maringa said the team of experts only had one copy which was presented to President Kenyatta.
He further stated that there was no feasibility study conducted and the consequences should the dam’s walls break would be catastrophic.
Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika however questioned the reasons behind the cancellation stating that there was no justification since the team of experts did not have firsthand information on the project.
“You know it is really surprising that the team came up with such a report without even visiting the site. They had 30 days to do their job and I do not understand how they did not get even one day to visit the place and get firsthand information before recommending the cancellation,” Kihika remarked.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on September 18 revoked the planned development of the Kimwarer multipurpose dam after a Technical Committee he constituted to review its feasibility returned a negative verdict.
READ: Kenyatta orders cancellation of Kimwarer dam project, Arror dam to proceed under rationalized plan
The team chaired by Maringa, found the Sh22.2 billion project to have been overpriced and its financial viability in question.
“The only feasibility study carried out on a similar project twenty-eight (28) years ago had revealed a geological fault across the 800-acre project area, which would have negative structural effects on the proposed dam,” a statement dispatched by State House Spokesperson Kanze Dena read.
The Technical Committee also established that the project area where the dam was to be constructed would require compensation of displaced residents.
The neighboring Arror multipurpose dam was downscaled and will now be constructed on a 250-acre piece of land costing Sh15.4 billion with the hydro power component factored in or Sh13.1 billion without power.
The dam was previously estimated to cost Sh28.3 billion.
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