This archive report was first published on 5 December 2019.
Water and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui was questioned over the stalled Itare Dam project in Nakuru County on December 4, 2019. The project, which was projected to serve around 800,000 people, has stalled despite Sh11.5 billion having been paid for its construction.
Chelugui was summoned to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters in Nairobi, where he faced detectives probing the project for more than eight hours. He wrote a statement on what he knows about the matter.
The Itare project was projected to cost Sh29.5 billion, but only 43 per cent of the work has been completed. Construction began in April 2017 and was due to end by July 2022, but has since stalled.
Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji and DCI boss George Kinoti had visited the site of the construction and declared only 10 per cent of the work had been done. They also visited Dubai where officials said some of the payments were made to collect more evidence.
“The CS is being questioned over the Itare dam probe. We cannot recover anything. The contractor abandoned the site and went back to their country,” said Kinoti.
Works have stalled at the project, and up to 70 cars seconded to the company have been confiscated in the probe. The cars are being detained by the police as exhibits.
