Elgeyo-Marakwet leaders have found fault with President Uhuru Kenyatta for cancelling the building of the Sh22.2 billion Kimwarer dam. They feel that it was a punishment meted out to its residents for no fault of theirs and the wrong doers have gone scout free.
Senator Kipchumba Murkomen representing the County, put the mistake squarely on the technical committee that recommended its cancellation. He feels that the committee was biased and of misled the President. The composition of the committee did not have any representation of local people and it appears that right from the beginning, the overriding interest of the said committee was to kill the project for reason best known to them, says the people who support the construction of the dam The people of Elgeyo Marakwet have been denied their rightful share of the national projects in a deliberate act of discrimination, lamented the Senator. .
The technical committee in its report presented to the president had mentioned that the dam was overpriced and the project was not viable both technically and financially. It also alleged that no proper feasibly study was undertaken before building the dam. The committee said that a similar project feasibility study carried out some 28 year ago had revealed some geological fault when the dam becomes operational. The committee also mentioned about the cost towards rehabilitation of the relocated people once the dam becomes operational.
On the other hand, the protagonist of the dam has pointed out that a feasibility study had already been undertaken by the Israeli government way back in 1979, which established the feasibility of the project, which could transform the socio-economic conditions of the people of the County. It appears that the Country people are going to appeal against the biased report of the committee. According to them, the project, if implemented would help more than 30,000 people mostly farmers.
