Siaya residents urged to embrace planned Sh500 billion nuclear project

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Siaya residents have been urged to embrace the planned Sh500 billion nuclear power project, with stakeholders assuring them that the proposed plant will provide significant benefits to the region and the country.

Siaya Senator Dr Oburu Oginga urged residents of Lenya Village, the proposed site of the nuclear plant, to support the project while negotiating for favourable compensation for land to be acquired by the government.

Speaking during a Senate Standing Committee on Energy engagement with landowners in Bondo, Oburu asked residents not to be swayed by what he termed propaganda against nuclear energy, describing the technology as safe and important for Kenya’s future power needs.

“I want to ask our people to take up the project with two arms because it is safe and it is the way to go in terms of power generation, but also let’s be very cautious from the beginning in the way we negotiate so that we have no regrets in the future,” said Oburu.

The proposed nuclear power plant will occupy approximately 200 acres within an 800-meter radius at Lenya Village, Central Sakwa Location in Bondo Sub-County.

Oburu, who is also the ODM party leader, said the Senate committee was convinced that the proposed 2,000-megawatt project would benefit Kenyans, adding that its responsibility was to protect the interests of residents affected by the development.

He urged the government to ensure landowners received fair compensation based on prevailing market rates.

“We know that government will send its own land valuers, but we also urge private valuers to be involved for comparison because we do not want our people to be compensated less than the existing market rates as has been the case in some government projects,” he said.

Senate Energy Committee Chair William Kisang said he was satisfied that the two lead agencies involved in the project, Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) and the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA), had addressed questions and concerns raised by residents.

Kisang assured residents that the committee would continue sensitisation on the proposed nuclear project and their rights to enable them to make informed decisions.

NuPEA Chief Executive Officer Justus Wabuyabo assured residents that the agency would deal directly with landowners to eliminate cartels and middlemen seeking to benefit from land compensation.

He cautioned residents against selling their land to what he described as predatory buyers who could take advantage of uncertainty surrounding the project.

Wabuyabo also revealed plans to facilitate visits by more than 100 residents of Lenya Village to nuclear power plants outside the country as part of efforts to enhance public understanding and confidence in the technology.

Bondo MP Dr Gideon Ochanda, who attended the meeting, called for urgent solutions to land succession and dispute cases affecting residents in the proposed project area.

He said approximately 70 per cent of the land earmarked for the nuclear plant was either subject to succession cases or land disputes, which could delay the compensation process.

“As per now, 70 percent of the land which is earmarked for the nuclear plant is either under succession cases or under dispute. We cannot have these people go through the normal long procedure to solve the disputes; we need to find ways to solve these matters expeditiously so that everyone is compensated accordingly and to avoid future disputes,” said Ochanda.

Residents, led by Denis Awana, welcomed the Senate committee’s engagement but called for more consultations at Lenya Village to ensure all affected residents were involved in discussions concerning the project.

They also presented a number of demands as part of their negotiations for accepting the mega project.

Among their demands was the tarmacking of the 22-kilometre Bondo-Liunda Road, employment opportunities for 20 trained teachers from Lenya Village, and organised scientific visits to nuclear power projects outside the country.

By Brian Ondeng

Reporting originally appeared via Kenya News Agency. Read the full source for additional context.