The National Treasury has denied losing Ksh317 billion after the President William Ruto administration cancelled an agreement for the construction of the High Grand Falls dam between Kitui and Tharaka Nithi counties.
In a statement, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, while responding to reporting in The Standard newspaper and the KTN News on September 22, stated that, contrary to the reports, the project had not reached a stage where taxpayers could incur losses.
He maintained that under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) framework, government liability could only arise once a binding agreement had been signed, which was not the case.
Mbadi explained that the project originated from a privately initiated proposal submitted in January 2023 by a consortium, which included another international consortium.
The consortium was then granted preliminary approval in May 2023 to carry out detailed studies under a Project Development Agreement with the National Irrigation Authority.
According to the Treasury, the consortium later submitted a Project Development Report to the PPP Directorate in March 2024, and it was after an evaluation process that the PPP committee found that the report did not meet the statutory requirements and therefore approved the termination of the project in July 2025.
Mbadi further said that the decision was consistent with Section 43(11)(c) of the PPP Act and clarified that the contracting authority was free to resubmit the project under competitive procurement, stressing that no taxpayer funds were at risk, as no project agreement had been signed.
''First, the claim that taxpayers could lose up to KSh. 317 billion from the cancellation of the High Grand Falls Dam Project is inaccurate,'' Mbadi stated.
Adding that, ''Under the Public Private Partnerships (PPP) framework, no obligation arises until a binding PPP Project Agreement approved by the PPP Committee is signed by the project parties. We wish to confirm that no project agreement was signed for this project, and therefore no such liability exists for the government.''
Meanwhile, the ministry also dismissed claims that foreign interests influenced the PPP Committee, stating that the committee is an independent body that followed due process and allowed the interested consortium to clarify its submissions.
Treasury reaffirmed that the termination of the High Grand Falls Dam Project was lawful, transparent, and in line with procurement laws.
The High Grand Falls project aimed to boost the country's electricity generation capacity and agricultural irrigation through the construction of an ultra-modern, large-scale multipurpose dam.
