• Ruto says the two countries have reached an agreement to withdraw court cases on the botched project
• The mega project was cancelled by former President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2019 after investigations unearthed a scandal.
• Billions were paid to an Italian firm for work not done
Construction of the Arror and Kimwarer dams in Elgeyo Marakawet County is going to resume, President William Ruto has announced.
Addressing journalists at State House, Nairobi, after holding talks with his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella on Tuesday, Ruto said the two countries had reached an agreement to withdraw court cases on the botched project.
“I am happy to report that Government of Kenya and Government of Italy have agreed; in fact, the process of sorting the matters in court has started in earnest. The Kenyan government will withdraw the cases filed against the companies and the Government of Italy and the contractors will also withdraw the arbitration cases,” President Ruto said.
The mega project was cancelled by former President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2019 after investigations unearthed a scandal where billions were paid to an Italian firm for work not done.
According to the Head of State, financing for the project is going to be restructured and construction will resume in the coming months.
“The financing that was already made available is going to be restructured. We are going to clear the court issues in the next one month. We should be able to go on with the construction of the these dams in a matter of months,” he said.
In the multi-billion shillings fraud case, former Treasur y CS Henry Rotich, former KVDA Managing Director David Kimosop and seven others are charged with conspiracy to defraud the government of Kenya.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had initially charged 24 individuals in relation to the scandal but has since terminated charges against 15, among them Former Treasury PS Kamau Thugge and his former East Africa Community counterpart Susan Jemutai Koech, after they agreed to be prosecution witnesses.
