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Four senators have called on  President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene and salvage the Koru-Soin Dam project in Kisumu, as they accused “some State operatives” of sabotaging the multi-billion shilling initiative.

The trio are Aaron Cheruiyot (Kericho), Fred Outa (Kisumu), Moses Kajwang’ (Homa Bay) and Samson Cherargei (Nandi).

A vicious legal dispute between two Chinese companies has stalled construction of the Sh20 billion dam on River Nyando that seeks to address perennial flooding in the area.

The row pits China Gezhouba and China Jiangxi Economic Cooperation in which the latter was awarded a tender by the National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority for  the dam construction.

China Gezhouba bid Sh19.2 billion for the project but was not successful. It has since contested the decision to award the contract to its rival, which bid Sh19.9 billion, terming it irregular and unfair.

China Gezhouba has moved to the Public Procurement Review Board (PPRB), claiming the tendering process was marred by irregularities.

Public procurement regulations require that prequalification to evaluate a bidder’s ability to perform the contract obligations is done before the process moves to the technical and financial evaluation stage, which awards the contract to ‘the lowest evaluated bidder.’

In its appeal to the Public Procurement Administration Review Board, China Gezhouba argues that the water harvesting authority did not pick the lowest bidder for the Nyando dam works, causing it to lose the job.

Full circle

Speaking at the weekend, Cherargei said: “I think somebody is sabotaging it. This is because it involves a lot of money. I thought you must give value for money when awarding tenders.” 

He went on: “Had we awarded the company whose bid was Sh19.2 billion, we would have saved Kenya Sh700 million.”

As the Chinese firms bicker, Cherargei opined that at least 2,000 households are yet to be compensated by National Land Commission while others have been displaced in some parts of Nyando and its environs after homes and schools were submerged.

“In my opinion, since this matter has gone through full circle from evaluation to PPRB, I think the best thing is to cancel the tender all together and ensure we run it in an open and transparent manner,” Cherargei said.

“We do not want Kenyans to lose over Sh700 million that would have done wonders,” he said.

Project execution

On his part, Kajwang, while regretting that the Sh1.5 billion already allocated the project risks being returned to Treasury, said the government is excellent when it comes to design, ideation and creating a vision.

However, it is horrible when it comes to project execution, and particularly, procurement.

“Many of these grand projects were conceived many years ago. Everything is okay on paper, but when it comes to implementation, nothing happens. We want to tell the President that the people he has delegated executive authority to are letting him down,” Senator Kajwang’ said.

“As far as the President is concerned, the tender was awarded and he believes that work is happening. However, there are some middle level bureaucrats who want to take advantage of the situation,” he added.

Kajwang’ said the long-standing tussle, sometimes, is propelled by ideas of kickbacks as the populace suffer.

He said the areas of Nyando, Soin and Koru have got some of the richest soils that if we could just control the floods through the dam, the country would not be talking about food donations and helicopters bringing yellow maize and beans whenever the floods hit.

“When we have a conversation with the President this weekend, we shall bring to his attention that some people are letting him down in procurement and project execution,” he said. Water Principal Secretary Joseph Irungu recently told the Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi, that the ministry risks losing money if the matter is not resolved before the next financial year.

He said the ministry is one month away from losing the Sh1.5 billion that had been released by the Treasury to start the mega project.

The multi-purpose dam is funded by the National government through the National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority.