Families affected by the construction of the Koru-Soin Dam will be relocated humanely and compensated, Kisumu Senator Fred Outa has said.
Outa urged the authorities to ensure the compensation process is streamlined to avert outcry from families for lost land and non-existent payment.
The senator hailed the consultations for the construction of the dam in the border of Kisumu and Kericho in Muhoroni subcounty.
Outa said the process has not been acrimonious and assured the residents that consultations will continue.
“So far I’m satisfied by the process being carried out by the National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority to have the dam constructed,” he said.
The lawmaker said the families who have been earmarked to give up their land have been engaged and the construction will begin once payments are done.
Politics should be kept off the process to ensure the dam is constructed to cushion those living downstream from perennial flooding, he said.
“I’m happy to have received positive reports that families who will be affected are willing to move out to give space for the mega project,” he said in Nyando subcounty.
His office will lobby other elected leaders in the county to ensure the project is carried out to its full completion, the senator said.
Last month, the National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority board chair Erick Okeyo said Sh2 billion had been set aside to compensate families.
The government through the National Treasury had approved Sh25 billion for the construction of the dam this financial year.
The project is estimated to take five years and will provide water for irrigation, domestic use and production of electricity throughout the year.
Okeyo said the procurement is ongoing and is expected to be completed by the end of July. The contractor will be introduced in the first week of August.