(2 minutes read)
· The wind farm located at Marsabit County in Kenya is the
cause for tussle between residents of the area and the County’s High
Court
· However, the project did not go well with the local pastoral community
The wind farm located at Marsabit County in Kenya is the cause for
tussle between residents of the area and the County’s High Court. The
residents feel that the project will threaten the economic stability
in the area.
The project inaugurated by President Uhuru Kenyatta in July 2019,
comprises 365 wind turbine generators , which can generate clean
energy to the extent of 310 MW Each turbine has a capacity of 850 kW.
The government promoted this project as a part of the Vision 2030
drive towards energy security and to increase the share of energy from
alternative sources, which is generally termed as Green Energy.
However, the project did not go well with the local pastoral
community. Even before the inauguration of the project, the affected
communities sued the government for arbitrary allocation of 150 000
acres of community land in the Sarima area of Loiyangalani District,
which was allocated to Lake Turkana Wind Power Limited. The local
people use the land for cattle rearing in the dry seasons, when they
are out of work and that way they can support their traditional
lifestyle of a pastoral community. The communities, who were living in
the area were denied access to the land even to their homes, not to
speak of grazing of their cattle. The area also became a hub of crimes
and the villagers were subjected to other harassments also.
Sometime in 2012, World Bank pulled out of the project citing the
sloppy power purchasing agreement, which it felt would not make the
project viable and thought the investment is risky. To add fuel to the
fire, the company that set up the windmill –Turkana Wind Power
Limited- has started sourcing labor from outside to the great
consternation of the local people, who thought that the mill would
provide gainful employment to some of them.
Since the uncertainty is looming large and the local community is
refusing to relent, there is a big question mark about the project
despite the High Court and the government are keen to keep the
project going. That is possible only when a tripartite healthy
dialogue gets going among the company, local people and the
government.
