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dam-l Kenya dam report/LS
The following is a report on the Sondu Miriu hydropower project in Kenya,
written by a researcher who is helping affected people.
April 7, 2000
KENYA: Intolerance and little regard for dam-affected communities have
become the hallmark of the Sondu-Miriu river hydropower project in the
remote Nyakach escarpments of Kenya.
This stark reality was displayed in February when the Kenya government and
its Japanese partners in the power project disrupted the launch of a
community declaration, concerns and demands about the project.
The declaration deplores among others the ìsecretive manner in which the
project has been imposed on us, without meaningful consultations and lack
of access to project documents.î
The implementing agency of the government, Kenya Electricity Generating
Company (KENGEN) insists the community benefited from consultations before
the project was implemented. In contradiction and with pride, Kengen
officials cite four community meetings held to explain the ìbenefitsî of
the project.
Old man John Oyoo recalls attending one such meeting that was conducted in
English, a language that is understood by only a handful of the people
affected by the project. The subsequent meetings drew little interest from
those who understood English because of the ìtechnical termsî used to
explain the project. One of the terms Oyoo recalls vividly is Adit 1. He
has no idea what this means. But he knows because a signpost written "Adit
1" points towards the beach of his ferry business, he has lost income
because of a bridge built for project vehicles, machinery and people
crossing.
The community members demand transparency in the project and implementation
of promises made to them during the ìbenefitsî meetings. They recall when
the first studies for the project were being conducted in 1978; they were
informed the government wanted to place lightning arrestors to curb
lightning menace. As time went by, they were informed flood control
measures were being put in place to bring to an end the perennial floods of
Nyakwere plains. The last benefit they heard of the project was when they
were told they would be provided with free electricity and employment when
the project took off.
The majority embraced the project while some few opponents, were thrown out
of their homes at gunpoint by police. One elderly woman who refused to move
out of her grass thatched hut, ran out of her abode when she heard shouts
from gangs of youths employed in the project. Seconds later a big orange
earthmover was mowing down what she knew was home and her few belongings.
Joy ended.
Since then, the people of Nyakach and Sondu have been plagued by ill luck,
disease, extreme poverty, dry pasture, vanishing fish species and a
polluted river water that they are certain is responsible for the recent
wave of deaths sweeping their homestead and livestock.
It is in this background that they came up with the declaration also
demanding the project developers assess the environmental, social and
economic effects of the project, giving ìadequate opportunity for review by
independent experts.î
The displaced described the ìtedious and confusing payment procedureî for
compensation, which is negotiated with contracts that they cannot read and
the lack of water supply for villagers who used for free the river water.
ìWomen are therefore forced to walk long distances in search of water. Our
livestock have died as a result of drinking from the riverís polluted
waters while indigenous fish species like Okoko and Ningu are disappearing
as a result of oils and waste water dumped in our river. Our streams have
vanishedî because of the construction.
They request ìurgent measures be taken to ensure that we regain forthwith
our former incomes and be direct beneficiaries of the project for which we
have sacrificed our homes and land.î They ask for an updated compensation
plan and compensation for ladles people affected by the project. They also
demand adequate water supply.
While preparing to make their demands known, local police arrested at
gun-point 30 people with various interest in the launch of the Sondu-Miriu
River Community Declaration at the dam site. Among those arrested were 16
community advocates, six local journalists, four foreign journalists
reporting for Asahi Shimbun newspaper and Kyodo News, Japan, two ActionAid
observers, an Oxfam observer and researcher Argwings Odera who is
researching the projectís impact for Africa Water Network. It was the
second time police arrested people concerned by the dam.
Kengen spokesman Peter Njeru has assured of more arrests in future if the
people, AWN and other interest groups do not co-operate with the
government. The government draws courage from the Japan International Bank
Corporation (JIBC) after its reiteration that the bank will still disburse
funds for the Sondu-Miriu project despite protests.
A number of precedents have been set for future arrests of Sondu-Miriu
activists. In March, police arrested Kenya Human Rights Commission
activists who went to visit the Ogiek; an indigenous community being
evicted out opf their forestland. Members of the Greenbelt Movement were
also arrested when they visited a forest that was being given as gifts to
government officials.
While the Sondu-Miriu activists brace for more intolerance from the
government, they are driven by only one force - their determination to save
yet another river under threat.
-end-
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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