By Dennis Itumbi via fb
It is very easy to be DP William Ruto these days.
Practice hard, Sakaja Johnson, used to tell me, play easy.
That is a principle DP understands too well.
Now the new issue is Lower Nzoia Irrigation and flood mitigation Development Project.
The launched lower nzoia flood mitigation & irrigation project is now 15% in progress & is meant to eliminate destructive perennial flooding and increase acreage under irrigation. I have followed this project since 2008 as minister for agriculture. Wacheni njama na siasa mbichi
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) October 2, 2019
Let me walk you through #SystemYaFacts
1. Many Administrations have done lip service to this project. William Ruto as Minister of Agriculture has never lost focus on the project
2. In 2013, Jubilee began a focused and sincere approach at delivering the project.
3. By 2016, funding was secured and bids for phase one were put out to begin setting up structures for the mega project going accross counties.
4. In November 2017, CS Eugene Wamalwa put out the announcement that GOK had STARTED major infrastructural development in Busia worth Shs 10b and supported by among others the World Bank via his twitter account
5. Later bids were put out and CS signed the contract with China’s Sino Hydro Corporation at his office saying “construction are set to begin tomorrow…”
6. In December 2018, the Project Manager paid a courtesy call and briefed Governor Sospeter Ojamoong saying intake works had begun. Engineer Edwing Manyonge disclosed the river diversion and intake were already on course.
7. DP Ruto then gave impetus to the project on 7th June, 2019. This is the day he transplanted rice in one of the rice blocks meant to benefit from the gravity fed system of the Lower Nzoia Irrigation Project. And that is according to The National Irrigation Board website and MD NIB and CS were present.
8. That is where the drama started. Just three days later Siaya MPs protested Project was launched without their involvement and compensation for those displaced by Project.
But what is the truth about compensation
1. The project requires at least 3000 acres of land.
2. Part of it has been acquired while the rest is being processed.
3. Irrigation is going on in what is already acquired. That is where the DP was. Once the rest of the land is acquired after compensation project will spread to those areas
5 Just to put it in context – In Keremendu work has started on 127 acres that is required for the mega dam. The project requires at least 600 acres.
Acquisition of remainder of the land is ongoing.
6. Acquisition of the 3000 acres of land needed for Thwake dam was just completed this year after several years of negotiations.
In short compensation for land should never stop a project!
Finally as DP has tweeted the project is now 15% complete and progressing well.
“Wacheni Njama na siasa mbichi,” As DP has tweeted.
Those are the Facts! An ongoing project is NOT a ghost project it does not matter how many times the headlines repeat a Lie!
Fake News does NOT become true because Headlines repeat the outright Lie!
Like I keep saying, tunaelewa, Facts are strange to some of you!
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