Deputy President William Ruto came under fire after accusations that he had rushed to launch a project that was yet to be fully completed.
On Wednesday, October 2, the Deputy President came clean on the Ksh 5.3 billion Lower Nzoia Irrigation and Food mitigation project that he launched on June 7, 2019.
While urging his critics to stop politicizing everything, Ruto noted that 15 percent of the project had already been completed.
"The launched lower Nzoia Flood Mitigation & Irrigation project is now 15% in progress and is meant to eliminate destructive perennial flooding and increase acreage under irrigation," he wrote on his Twitter page.
Further, he noted that he had followed through the project since 2008 when he was the Minister for agriculture.
The details emerged on Tuesday, October 1, when the National Irrigation Board (NIB) and the National Land Commission (NLC) appeared before the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to address compensation delay allegations.
Water and Sanitation Principal Secretary Joseph Irungu, told the committee that the irrigation project was launched without the blessings of his office.
He added that his office was still addressing issues concerning the compensation of residents who had been displaced.
"There was no contact between the DP's office and my office. Even my project engineer was not there. Compensation is a very sensitive matter, which needed to be handled well," Irungu stated.
The irrigation project was supposed to mitigate flooding common in the area and also to boost food production in the region.
