On 2018-11-21, ODM party national treasurer Chris Obure Bosire accused Deputy President William Ruto of turning development projects into campaign platforms in Kisii, with the Bonyunyu Dam at the centre of the dispute.
Bosire said Ruto had made repeated visits to the Gusii region in recent weeks, including a trip to Kemera ward about two weeks earlier and another to Kitutu Chache North the previous week. He argued that the visits were being used to sell the government’s development agenda at the expense of local concerns.
The former Kitutu Masaba MP singled out the Bonyunyu Dam, a project Ruto has repeatedly described as one of the Jubilee administration’s major undertakings. Bosire said the government had not done enough to explain the project to residents, especially on compensation and relocation for people likely to be affected.
“When you launch a project like that of Bonyunyu, there is a report that the government gives after feasibility study.
“This entails compensation scheme for those affected for easy relocation. So far, nothing has been done but the DP insists the project is ongoing,” Bosire said in an interview with Egesa FM on Tuesday.
Ruto had visited Kitutu Masaba in June and said the government was in the process of constructing the dam, which he estimated would cost more than Sh5 billion. Bosire, however, said the project was being handled in bad faith because of what he described as limited information from the government and a lack of public participation.
He added that development must be done with local consent, saying, “We all want development but it must be sincere. People must take part in deciding what the want and how they want it to be done. Doing things without their consent is a violation of the constitution.”
The dam site has already been the scene of tension. Earlier in the year, violence broke out in the village where the project is located, and police shot dead one protestor during a deadly confrontation.
Kitutu Masaba MP Shadrack Mose has also continued to back the dam’s construction, even as divisions persist among residents over the project.
