Category: Development

The management of the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) is in a panic over questionable undertakings at the Ol Karia Geothermal plant.

Investors and financiers have been asking for answers over the shutdown of the Ol karia plant.

In March, explosive posts by a Twitter user calling out the energy producer for being involved in enabling high electricity costs were hushed under an army of public relations articles.

“According to EPRA data published in the Kenya Gazette, the Olkaria 1 Unit IV and V produced 60,754,334 units in December. In January it produced 425 units and in February it produced just 6 units. How does a power plant move from producing 60 million units to 6 units?”, a post on Twitter read.

KenGen then tried to suppress the issue by claiming, without evidence, that energy plants at Ol karia were fully operational. According to sources, KenGen was openly lying.

Some Kenyans noticed a change in their electricity billing in February.

“My electricity bill tripled from nowhere, yet I had not added any appliances to the ones I have. It is unexplainable”, a lady wrote to us.

KenGen has been on a project launching spree, which means, the cost of electricity must come down. It sure did but then the company engaged in some unconventional behaviour by agreeing to switch off Ol Kariageothermal plants to starve the country of cheap electricity and benefit the management and Independent Power Producers that supply KPLC with power.

Investors such as the World Bank and others have poured billions into KenGen for green energy initiatives. They noted this and have been frantically trying to get more information from management but all that is being shown them are links to new stories.

Presently, KenGen plans to invest Kshs.230 billion in new plants by 2026.

When Ol Karia is criticised, KenGen spews a new milestone about the plant. For example, in the new revelations about switching off the plants, the energy firm announced the completion of Ol Karia 1 Unit 6.

Further inquiry into the incident prompted the firm to announce that the unit is about to start pumping electricity to the National Grid.

Furthermore, in the expansion of Geothermal power, KenGen has faced allegations of land grabbing.

The sale of the LR 8398/2 land for Sh505 million was in 2020 termed irregular by the Nakuru County Government committee report, which was formed to look into the land purchase.

The committee’s report showed that KenGen failed to adhere to procurement rules and obtained the land without the knowledge of the members.

The fraudulent land acquisition lies squarely on three KenGen senior managers namely, Jennifer Oduor, Jane Mbogo and Cornelius Letei.

Sacco members claimed that the Sh500 million land sale deal between the SACCO and KenGen was “shrouded in secrecy and dishonesty” because their leaders did not consult them.

The case has moved back and forth and is still unresolved to date.

When KenGen is contacted, they shift the blame to IPPs.

As Kenyans seek employment in the state corporation, unscrupulous managers, who are supposed to be answering to criminal charges, block them.

“Some of us have stagnated in positions for years because we have no one to push us though we work hard to make sure the company achieves its targets”, one complained.

Much as the company has done much in terms of growing its portfolio and putting us in the global map in so far as growth in clean energy is considered, the rot in its recruitment processes leaves a lot to be desired. There’s too much Tribalism and nepotism.

Two Chinese construction firms undertaking national government water flagship projects in Siaya County have been ordered to appear before the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for undermining government efforts to provide the locals with clean and potable water.

Nyanza Regional Commissioner Magu Mutindika, who led a team of the regional development implementation and coordination committee on a tour of the county said the chief executive officers of M/s Shanxi Geological Engineering Exploration Institute and M/s Zhongmei Engineering Group Limited will have to explain why they have persistently ignored instructions from government officials to perform their contractual obligations despite the extension of the contracts on several occasions.

The regional commissioner lamented that the multi-million shilling presidential projects; the Siaya – Bondo water project’s last-mile connectivity and Ugunja – Sega – Ukwala water project, are supposed to be commissioned by President Uhuru Kenyatta before leaving the office adding that the government will not allow anyone to frustrate their completion.

He said that the management of the two firms has been evading government officials whenever they are taken to task to have the projects completed within the agreed time frame.

In the case of the Siaya – Bondo water project’s last-mile connectivity, the regional commissioner lamented that the contractor was supposed to have laid 80 kilometres of pipes and connected 3,000 households with water by the end of December last year.

“He has not achieved the target and has only managed 1,200 households and has persistently ignored instructions from the resident engineer,” lamented Mutindika.

Mutindika, who was flanked by senior Presidential Delivery Unit directors, Jared Buoga, Tuta and Sylvance Osele further accused M/s Zhongmei Engineering Group Limited of lying that the government owed him money.

“The contractor claims that there is non-payment which is not true. The issue is lack of capacity on the part of the contractor,” said the regional commissioner.

He ordered the management of the Lake Victoria Waterworks Development Agency and the Central Rift Valley Waterworks Development Agency to post officials in the two projects who will oversee operations to ensure that they are completed by the end of June 2022 to await commissioning.

The Siaya – Bondo last mile connectivity project will cost Ksh 265 million when complete while the Ugunja – Sega – Ukwala water project will cost a whopping one billion shillings.

Both projects are funded by the Africa Development Bank.

Dear Prince William,

RE: Recognition of Colonial Crimes in Kericho, Kenya

We are writing to you at a time when you are eagerly preparing for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Kenya clearly is a special place for you and your family. You proposed to your wife there and when your Grandmother became Queen, she was visiting Kenya – which at the time was one of the colonies – on a royal tour. It is most telling however that at the same time in Kericho county, only a few hundred kilometres from where the Queen was staying, our families and ancestors were being violently pushed off the land we had always lived on.

It was the British colonial forces that did this so that tea could be planted on the very fertile ground where we were born. We are turning to you now 70 years later as a group of over 100,000 victims from Kericho whose suffering as a result of this period has been entirely ignored by your family and successive British Governments. We are urging you at this historic time to stand on the side of justice and to recognise the grave violations we have endured for decades.

Our people were violently evicted from their homes to make space for the very lucrative tea plantations that still exist today. Many men and women were raped, arbitrarily detained, and in some cases killed whilst trying to resist the evictions. All were displaced and humiliated, and none have been compensated. The trauma of having our ancestral land stolen from us and the degradation to which we were subjected affected not only those of us directly removed from the land, but also all our family members for generations to come.

The pain of our colonial past has been inherited in many forms and is exacerbated by the ongoing economic hardships of losing such precious land to profit-hungry corporations. But this is also your colonial past and, where we inherited the pain, you inherited the profit.

Despite our immense suffering under British rule, the British Government has refused to acknowledge this fact or meet any of us, let alone apologise. Which is why we are now appealing to you.

In September 2019, our British and Kenyan legal representatives submitted an official complaint to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence. After investigating the complaint and hearing from the many of us victims directly, the UN Special Rapporteur sent his report and recommendations to the UK Government. It confirmed the responsibility of the British Government to remedy the extensive crimes inflicted on our people by way of a full public apology and appropriate reparations.

Yet, still there has been no response from the British Government. We are deeply disappointed. The Government has merely stated that it has already expressed regret in relation to certain victims of the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya, and that it would not enter into any process with the Kericho victims. We are clearly different victims whose land was forcibly taken away. The provision of reparations to one discrete group of victims plainly does not address our grievances as a separate and distinct group of victims.

We do not want this to become a bitter dispute – we just want the wrongs committed against us to be recognised. An apology and a discussion about reparations would be the start to achieve justice. Many of our group are very elderly so the urgency of this is paramount. We cannot let another victim of this time pass away still longing for their dignity to be restored.

As you prepare to celebrate your Grandmother’s Platinum Jubilee, our own elderly family members remember the pain of having their homes and land taken away from them at the same time. We have very little to celebrate. We are asking that you therefore do the right thing and support our quest for justice by making a public statement of recognition of what we suffered as well as an apology and an arrangement for appropriate reparations. It will be in all of our best interests to move forward in this way to a worthy and prosperous future together.

We thank you for your consideration of our appeal to you. We look forward finally to closing this painful chapter of history and starting afresh with mutual respect, grace and dignity. We await your response.

Yours sincerely,

Joel Kimutai Bosek, Advocate

______________________________

For and on behalf of the Victims of abuse by British colonial forces and land theft in Kericho county, Kenya

Address:

J.K Bosek and Company Advocates

NSSF Building

Ground Floor, Block

P.O Box 49482-00100

Nairobi

A letter delivered to Prince William’s household in London today seeks justice for a notorious land grab in East Africa.

It comes from a group of Kenyans whose ancestral land was stolen by British imperial forces. They are calling on the royal family to apologise and make reparations.

The move follows a wave of protests against royal tours of the Caribbean where campaigners have demanded Britain’s monarchy address the legacy of slavery.

For decades from 1902, half a million people from the Kipsigis and Talai indigenous groups were violently evicted from the Kericho region of western Kenya.

“Many men and women were raped, arbitrarily detained, and in some cases killed whilst trying to resist the evictions,” an advocate for the victims, Joel Kimutai Bosek, wrote in a letter to the Duke of Cambridge.

Foreign settlers seized their highly fertile land and turned it into tea plantations, some of which are now owned by British beverage brands including PG Tips.

The victims were deported to arid areas of Kenya and prevented from returning home. They were still being kept in squalid conditions on “native reserves” in 1952 when Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne while in Kenya on a royal tour.

After Kenya became independent in 1963, Britain’s monarchy showed favour to colonial families that remained in the country. Prince William spent his gap year in central Kenya on a farm run by the descendants of white settlers and later proposed to his wife there.

‘Entirely ignored’

In the letter, the Queen’s grandson is told that the “suffering as a result of this period has been entirely ignored by your family and successive British Governments. We are urging you at this historic time to stand on the side of justice and to recognise the grave violations we have endured for decades.”

On behalf of the victims, their Nairobi-based lawyer wrote: “The pain of our colonial past has been inherited in many forms and is exacerbated by the ongoing economic hardships of losing such precious land to profit-hungry corporations. But this is also your colonial past and, where we inherited the pain, you inherited the profit.”

He added: “Despite our immense suffering under British rule, the British government has refused to acknowledge this fact or meet any of us, let alone apologise. Which is why we are now appealing to you.”

Last year, six UN special rapporteurs wrote to the British government expressing concern “at the alleged lack of reparation provided to victims for the gross violations suffered at the time of the events; as well for the harm suffered by victims and their descendants in the succeeding decades as a result of the loss of property.”

UK authorities did not respond directly to the specific details of the Kericho case, instead claiming to have addressed colonial-era grievances through a settlement awarded to victims of the Mau Mau uprising that occurred in another part of Kenya.

“We are clearly different victims whose land was forcibly taken away,” today’s letter notes. “The provision of reparations to one discrete group of victims plainly does not address our grievances as a separate and distinct group of victims.”

Platinum jubilee

The letter comes at a delicate time for the royal family, when the palace wants to focus on marking the Queen’s 70th year on the throne.

“As you prepare to celebrate your grandmother’s Platinum Jubilee, our own elderly family members remember the pain of having their homes and land taken away from them at the same time,” the Kericho campaigners said to Prince William. “We have very little to celebrate.”

“We are asking that you therefore do the right thing and support our quest for justice by making a public statement of recognition of what we suffered as well as an apology and an arrangement for appropriate reparations.”

Prince William has met Kenya’s president on multiple occasions, including as recently as November.

He is heavily involved in conservation efforts in Africa – an activity which can often benefit old colonial landowners – and is patron of Fauna and Flora International, formerly the Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire.

Professor Philip Murphy, an expert in imperial history at the University of London, told Declassified: “Colonial legacy issues are increasingly the focus for protests and calls for reparations. This is changing the whole dynamic of the interactions between the Windsors and the Commonwealth.

“In the past there was an assumption that royal visits and Commonwealth patronages were an essential part of British ‘soft power’ despite their often blatant imperial overtones. Following developments like the Black Lives Matter Movement and the Windrush scandal, however, these imperial echoes are provoking pushback from a variety of quarters.” -Declassified (UK publication).

A report by the Senate’s Standing Committee on Health is now recommending the disposing off, of medical items bought by Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) to fight COVID-19 to prevent an imminent massive loss to the agency.

The projected loss to KEMSA if the goods are to be sold now will be about Ksh.2.9 billion and the report warns that the figure could decrease with time as the market prices continues to reduce.

In its probe, the committee further established that the products purchased by KEMSA for purposes of containing the COVID-19 pandemic cost the taxpayer Ksh.7.6 billion, with the bulk of it worth Ksh.5.9 billion still lying in the State agency’s warehouses; only health products worth Ksh.1.8 billion having being sold.

KEMSA, however, has already paid some suppliers Ksh.4.7 billion and still owes other suppliers Ksh.7.6 billion.

Meanwhile, Nairobi County government has set aside Kshs 374.9 million to clear an outstanding debt owed to KEMSA.

The move is aimed at ending a three-year debt row between the County government and authority, which has resulted in the shortage of drugs at some health facilities within the country’s capital.

The last payment done by City Hall to Kemsa was to the tune of Ksh166.93 million in January 2020, after months of back and forth between the two entities.

Nairobi County Assembly Budget and Appropriation committee chairperson Robert Mbatia said the payment of the entire debt will ensure drugs are supplied to all health facilities, with health functions now under the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).

The State will spend Sh200 million more on construction of the controversial Ronald Ngala Utalii College despite setting up a team to review its financial soundness and viability.

The Treasury has factored the money in the Ministry of Education budget for the financial year starting July 1.

Ronald Ngala Utalii College is at the centre of investigations by National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee over exaggerated costs.

A special audit report questioned the circumstances that led to the escalation of the project cost, from its original Sh1.9 billion cost to Sh8.9 billion before it was scaled down to Sh4.9 billion.

The contract for the main works was awarded to the third lowest prequalified bidder, Mulji Devraj & Brothers Ltd at Sh8,961,370,998 and signed on May 14, 2013.

In February, Tourism Cabinet Secretary (CS) Najib Balala appointed a taskforce to look into the investment so far pumped into the development of the Kenya Utalii College’s coast branch.

The six-member team on re-engineering of the Kenya Utalii College will make recommendations to the CS on institutional reforms on the Kilifi-based institution.

The taskforce chaired by Tourism Chief Administrative Secretary Joseph Boinett will look into the mandate of Kenya Utalii College, sustainability of its operations as well as financing and sources of the funds.

The team will also consider the application of college investments and assets, governance and management models as well as transition mechanisms.

While setting up the taskforce, Mr Balala directed the team to conduct its work expeditiously and submit its report to the Cabinet Secretary within 30 days of the date of its appointment.

Members of the taskforce include Krishna Unni, Barnabas Wamoto, Shazmin Manji, Mehdi Morad and Lina Ayako.

The appointment of the taskforce came amid revelations that the Kenya Utalii College is broke after posting Sh410.5 million loss in the year to June 2017.

Former Auditor-General Edward Ouko in a report to Parliament cited the management for failing to comply with the loan agreement signed between the college and the government of Kenya for a loan of Sh140 million.

Source: BD.

A Kshs. 47 million heath centre project in Sabuli town, Wajir South constituency is wasting away 11 years after completion.

The contractor Aden Yusuf said after winning the contract back in 2009, the project was complete the following year but only received 40% of the total payment to date.

Yusuf stated that his bid to seek intervention from the Ministry of Health and the county government have not been successful 11 years later.

“We need our money because it’s our right, and the residents require services from the health facility. I want to urge health Cabinet Secretary to help us to get our money and open this clinic to serve the residents here,” said Yusuf.

They urged the Health CS Mutahi Kagwe to intervene and open the clinic for it to benefit residents of Wajir County.

Most of the rooms in the clinic are filled with cobwebs and dust while the metals have started rusting.

This as the compound remains deserted because since the completion of the works in 2010, the clinic has never been opened for use.

“It is sad that we have to take our daughters and wives that far especially for antenatal services,” a resident added.

The Nyamira County Government is under pressure to explain why they have not utilised Sh87 million grant to boost the agriculture sector for the last two years.

Members of County Assembly (MCAs) are now demanding answers regarding the funds that had been allocated to support farmers.

County Assembly Speaker Moffat Teya sought an explanation from the Executive through the Assembly’s Finance Committee on why farmers were suffering when money was lying idle in a bank account.

“We need to know why the monies are lying idle in the bank account for two years. The executive in charge of Finance and Planning is required to appear before the committee on Finance to give details on this matter within 14 days,” Speaker Teya said during the Thursday session.

Assembly members now want the executive to explain why the money had not been put to use and demanded that the Finance department ensures the money was utilised.

The money was given as a grant to the county government for the financial year 2018/2019 under the Devolution Support Programme.

This is not unusual story from the counties, if we’re to borrow from text book scripts of how county officials are fleecing coffers, this money is not lying idle but in a bank somewhere generating profits.

How does this kind of theft happen? Counties receive money from the treasury directly to the county’s bank accounts, officials cut deals with bank executives to keep the money for sometime to accrue interest. So it’s good business for the bank, they have cash to loan and maintain their financial flows, crooked county officials on the other hand smile all the way to the bank for their cut off the profits made.

So if Nyamira County officials are serious, if investigative officials are serious, one of the areas they can possibly find their answers is the bank account where the money is being held. It’s an immoral matrimony that banks have wuth County officials nowadays.

EACC has in the past said in a report that Nyamira is the County with most graft claims they’ve received despite being one of the poorest in the region yet with the highest potential for agriculture.

Members of the county executive committee, chief officers, directors and enforcement officers have been on the watch-list for amassing wealth through corrupt deals.