At least 46 families that were yet to be compensated during the construction of the Lower Nzoia irrigation project will soon be paid, the national land commission has assured.
According to the commission chief executive officer, Kabaale Tache Arero, the commission requires about Ksh. 120 million to clear the remaining claims from the affected persons in Both Busia and Siaya counties.
She was speaking at the project water intake point in Ugunja sub county when the commission, led by chairman Abdillahi Almawy, visited the area.
The CEO assured affected landowners that the commission was actively coordinating with the Ministry of water and irrigation to expedite the disbursement.
“We have requested about KSh 108 million following a joint reconciliation exercise, alongside a previous schedule of KSh 17.6 million for 46 beneficiaries. In total, we require around KSh 120 million to fully settle the remaining compensation,” said Ms. Arero.
Arero said that over K. Sh 1.5 billion has already been paid out to date, representing 95 percent of the total monetary allocation. This, she added, covered about 80 percent of all affected landowners in the two counties.
”In matters of land compensation, we take utmost due diligence. While speed is important to relieve community anxiety, accountability is key” she said adding “we are ready to dispense the remaining payments as soon as the funds are remitted by the Ministry”.
National Lands Commission Principal Valuer, Peter Kaunda said a lot of strides has been made in the acquisition process that began in 2020 though complex ground realities faced the NLC team.
“We worked under significant pressure across vast distances between the intake, site offices, and the dykes,” Kaunda said adding “in certain sections, land was already cleared before physical inspections could take place, making evaluation delicate.”
Kaunda said that several remaining claims involve complex legal issues, such as encumbered title deeds, succession challenges, and untraceable landowners.
Briefing the team, Eng. Samson Musyoka from the State Department of Water and Sanitation praised the collaboration with NLC, highlighting that land acquisition enabled the successful construction of 34 kilometres of protective dykes.
“Since we completed those dikes, there has not been a single incident of flooding in Budalangi,” Eng. Musyoka said adding “this intervention has been life-changing, protecting an estimated 60,000 residents from displacement and flood damage.”
By Philip Onyango
