Tycoons eye part of Sh425bn High Grand Falls Dam land compensation money

A few rich individuals are among the business people and politicians in Tharaka Nithi County hoping to reap millions of shillings from land compensation money for the proposed Sh425 billion High Grand Falls Dam.

After a 2012 feasibility study indicated that six locations in Tharaka constituency would be swallowed up by the dam, the tycoons secretly rushed in and bought hundreds of acres of land in the sparsely populated Kathacini location in Tharaka North sub-county and proposed to the government that the people to be affected be resettled there.

The opportunists, some now in political office, vehemently opposed a proposal by the Tana and Athi River Development Authority (TARDA) to resettle the people in Tsekulu, Kitui County, arguing that they would not agree to relocating the families to a different county.

But they supported the idea of resettle the people in settlement schemes in the semi-arid Kiamiramba, where most of them had acquired land.

They also supported the proposal for each household to be given two irrigated acres of land for farming and demolished schools, and hospitals rebuilt there.

Sh20,000 per acre

However, they later changed their tune on the settlement scheme after realising that locals were opposed to it and were demanding monetary compensation.

But even with monetary compensation, the tycoons will still benefit because they insist that the government irrigate lands where the victims will settle and build schools and other facilities and this can only be possible if they settle in one area.

Mr John Kamwara, a resident of Kiamiramba, told Nation.Africa that a prominent politician bought 100,000 acres from five locals for Sh20,000 per acre and fenced it back in 2014.

He said that because land in the area is still communal, it has little monetary value and the politicians' offers were more lucrative because others were buying one acre for Sh10,000.

Mr Kamwara said that when they sold their land, they didn’t know about the vested interest of the tycoons.

“They were telling us that they were buying the land to keep livestock in order to help us fight bandits who were tormenting us by stealing our animals and even killing us,” said Mr Kamwara, who sold 20 acres.

Mr David Muthee, another resident, said a senior politician, who is now in office, bought 200 acres from several locals and fenced it but allowed them to continue grazing their livestock on the land.

He said the politician later bought goats and hired herdsmen to take care of them.

It was also reported that part of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor would also pass through Tharaka North sub-county and that would add value to the land.

Other financially able people, targeting the compensation money, rushed in and bought large tracts in Gituma, Maragwa, Kirukuma, Kamwathu, Kamarandi and Marimanti locations, which are said to be affected by the dam.

Mr Kithega Mutugi, a resident of Mwerera in Gituma location, said people are still buying land, some from as far away as Nairobi.

“I have a neighbour from Thika in Kiambu County who bought 10 acres of land earlier this year and fenced it,” said Mr Mutugi.

Sh6 billion

Speaking during an earlier site visit, former TARDA CEO Steven Githaiga said the former proposed Chinese contractor had set aside Sh6 billion for resettling residents in the three counties of Tharaka Nithi, Meru and Embu.

He said the displaced would not get monetary compensation, noting that most of the people who were paid to move in order to allow the construction of the Masinga and Kiambere dams now live miserable lives as squatters.

The dam is one of the Sh1.5 trillion Lapsset corridor projects that are expected to help Kenya achieve its Vision 2030.

The government of the United Kingdom has agreed to finance the dam as one of six Sh500 billion projects to be undertaken under a new Kenya-UK strategic partnership mainly targeting the agriculture and energy sectors.

Work on the dam will start in 2024 and will take between three and five years. Some 400,000 hectares are targeted for irrigation and the dam will generate 1,000MW of electricity.

Leaders in Tharaka Nithi and Kitui counties, including Tharaka MP Gitonga Murugara, Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Tharaka Ward Representative Muthengi Ndagara, have said that though they support the project, the government must offer adequate compensation to the people.

Mr Musyoka and Mr Ndagara faulted an earlier proposal to resettle people relocated from Gakombe in Tharaka ward in neighbouring Meru National Park.