Compensation of those displaced by construction of Horn of Africa Gateway Development project halted
The poor state of roads in Mandera County during floods. The World Bank has approved funding for the 395km Isiolo-Mandera road. The Sh81 billion road is part of the Horn of Africa Gateway Development Project (HoAGDP).
People displaced by the construction of the Horn of Africa Gateway Development project will have to wait longer to receive Sh554.9 million in compensation, the government has said.
The development follows the filing of at least 468 grievances with the National Land Commission (NLC) by the affected persons, delaying the release of the first batch of Sh554.9 million allocated to the project-affected persons (PAPs).
Appearing before the Senate Land and Environment Committee on Tuesday, August 6, NLC chairperson Gershom Otachi said the Commission had prepared and served awards to the PAPs and forwarded a compensation schedule amounting to Sh554.96 million to Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) on December 18, 2022.
The amount was a partial compensation for the PAPS who have not recorded any grievances and have fully signed the documents with the Commission.
However, after the award, he said, the committee chaired by Nyandarua Senator John Methu invited NLC to shed light on the compensation process and amounts awarded to the PAPs following complaints raised by some leaders touching on alleged discrimination in the compensation process.
The committee then directed that KeNHA halt processing of the requested compensation amount sent by the Commission until the issues raised at the Senate are resolved jointly by the local leaders, KeNHA and the Commission.
Mr Otachi said that as it stands, the compensation process has been halted until all grievances raised by PAPs are addressed.
This will enable the compensation schedule to be updated and finalised to enable a request for funds from KeNHA and payment of compensation to the PAPs.
He said NLC officers conducted a field visit between July 29, 2024, and August 2, 2024, engaging the PAPs, the community and stakeholders with a comprehensive report in progress to guide on the way forward on the issues raised, canvassed and observed.
“The Commission has received and analysed a total of 468 grievances from 14 towns/market areas spread along Package I of the HoAGDP. To progress the land acquisition and compensation process, the Commission is in liaison with KeNHA to address all grievances raised by the project affected persons as well as the other observations made upon the field visit stated above,” said Mr Otachi.
The road project, being implemented by the KeNHA in the Upper Eastern and Northern part of Kenya and funded by the World Bank, traverses Isiolo, Meru, Garissa, Wajir and Mandera counties where phase 1 extends approximately 200 kilometres from Isiolo to Modogashe.
The section is divided into two lots with Lot 1, running from Isiolo to Kulamawe and Lot 2 Kulamawe to Modogashe falls within Isiolo.
Nonetheless, Isiolo leaders, particularly the senator, Fatuma Dullo, have raised concerns, alleging skewed compensation by the NLC in the project.
The leaders have contested the decision by NLC to only compensate for affected structures, not land.
Ms Dullo, however, claims that Isiolo PAPs have been discriminated against by NLC during compensation, saying rates applied in her county differ from those for individuals affected by the project in the three other counties.
“Why do you compensate for the structures and not the land? Are the structures in the air?” posed Ms Dullo.
However, Mr Otachi maintained that the project therefore has no land acquisition component as the project was understood to be implemented on the demarcated road corridor.
He said the PAPs will only be compensated for structures identified to be on the demarcated road corridor as per the project funding agreement between the government and the financiers.
Mr Otachi explained that there was no land acquisition component in the project as the construction is within an existing land corridor and therefore no private or community land interests were being acquired.
“In any event, there was no formal request for acquisition of the land component. The valuation was to facilitate compensation to affected persons for their structures and business only,” said the NLC boss.
He defended the Commission against accusations of bias, saying NLC received a request from KeNHA via a letter dated September 14, 2020, for the Commission to value the affected properties within the surveyed road corridor as per the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) undertaken by KeNHA.
The Commission carried out inspections of the affected properties and businesses within Phase I of the project and conducted a disclosure and document collection exercise.
“Adjustments were made to accommodate cost distortions brought about by factors like availability of construction materials and transport costs,” said Mr Otachi.
“The rates were applied on the plinth area of the structures affected. Structure owners were also compensated for loss of rent/income while tenants were compensated for relocation costs where applicable,” he added.
According to the compensation tabulation, highrise stone wall structures will receive between Sh35,000 and Sh40,000 per square metre, double storey stone wall Sh30,000 and Sh35,000, modern stonewall bungalows Sh25,000 and Sh30,000, standard single storey stone walls Sh20,000 and Sh25,000, brick walls Sh15,000 and Sh20,000, wooden structure on screed floor Sh12,000 and 1Sh5,000, same as GCI structures; mud wall structures Sh10,000 and Sh15,000 and dash manyattas between Sh2,500 and Sh3,500.
