Gov’t risks losing Ksh.11billion in Itare Dam ‘graft’

Kenya is staring at a possible loss of Ksh.11 billion if the construction of the Ksh.28 billion Itare Dam in Nakuru is terminated.

The dam which has been at the heart of controversy has stalled for several months after a firm which won the tended went under.

This was after, an Italian firm, CMC Di Ravenna, the main contractor which won the tender in 2014 filed for bankruptcy last year causing the multibillion shilling dam project to stall indefinitely.

Itare Dam that has already used up Ksh.11 billion since construction began in April 2017 now remains an incomplete project.

The contractor is nowhere to be seen and the government is on the verge of terminating the project all together.

“We have reached a point of breaking or moving forward,” said Water CS Simon Chelugui.

CS Chelugui who was before the Parliamentary Natural Resources Committee indicated that the government is left with just three options:

1. Continue with CMC Di Ravenna once it is cleared to operate again or
2. Search for a new contractor or
3. Sub contract another firm to complete the work but maintain CMC Di Ravenna as the main contractor.

The Natural Resources Committee however put to task the Water CS to explain why CMC Di Ravenna has not been dropped as the contract management agreement in place allowed it in a scenario of failure to deliver.

CS Chelugui has now asked for two months to find a conclusive solution on whether to terminate the project or sub contract a new firm to continue with construction.

“If we get another firm, if we subcontract we can still deliver the dam within the initial timelines,” said Chelugui.

The government may now be forced to terminate the Itare project that was projected to serve around 800,000 people in Nakuru, Kuresoi, Molo, Rongai and Molo.

The dam has had an array of challenges ranging from compensation, flawed procurement processes and numerous court cases and could turn out to be extremely costly should it be terminated in it’s entirety.