Kenya Forced To Pay For Abandoned Arror and Kimwarer Dams Ksh23 Billion Loan
Five years after former President Uhuru Kenyatta cancelled the tender for the construction of the Arror and Kimwarer dams, Kenyan taxpayers are still expected to pay Ksh23 billion that Italian investors had advanced for the projects.
According to the National Treasury’s release of the Public Debt Stock External Debt Register for the 2022/23 Fiscal Year on Monday, the funds were borrowed in 2017.
Documents show that the Kenyan government received the funds in four installments from Intesa Sanpaolo, an Italian international banking group.
The money advanced through a buyer’s credit was wired to a Kenyan bank on April 18, 2017, two years before the projects were abruptly canceled.
One year later Vehicle are rusting and the project is stalling.#RutoMustGo https://t.co/sqlNvHYtDh pic.twitter.com/2Q6132s1fX
— Yoko (@Kibet_bull) July 22, 2024
Kenya received two wire transfers totaling Ksh10 billion for the Kimwarer Dam, while Arror Dam received a similar amount of Ksh13 billion.
Kimwarer’s advance is expected to be paid off by November 9, 2035, and Arror’s by January 18, 2036.
Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration canceled the project after reports surfaced that the Kimwarer Dam project was overpriced, rendering it neither technically nor financially viable.
In contrast, the Arror Multipurpose Dam Project was found to be economically viable but significantly overpriced.
Politicians from the Rift Valley, led by former Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, disagreed with Uhuru’s report, which claimed the cancellation was a clear case of discrimination.
The leaders questioned why no one had been found guilty of the procurement irregularities alleged by Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration.
“They started giving it a bad name that there were irregularities in how it was done. Now they have cancelled it just to deny our people this critical project,” the leaders complained then.
Whether it was due to discrimination or a genuine case of procurement irregularity, Kenyans will pay a Ksh23 billion loan with no indication of how the money was spent once it reached Kenyan bank accounts.
Kenya Forced To Pay For Abandoned Arror and Kimwarer Dams Ksh23 Billion Loan
