Chaos has ensued in the Mbeere area in Embu County after police lobbed teargas and fired several gunshots to disperse a crowd of protesters.
The demonstrations happening outside the Gitaru hydropower generation plant in Mbeere South, grew wilder after residents barricaded the company’s gate.
More than 300 protesters demanded compensation from the KenGen company for the 4,500 acres of land compulsorily acquired by the government for the development of the dam in 1974.
“We want to be given a chance to bring our children here and share the land with them. If this compensation was done earlier, we could have been rich by now,” one resident lamented.
Transport was paralysed on the Kivaa-Kiambere road with lorries that ferry sand from area rivers caught up in the confusion, as the protesters laid stones, boulders and dry tree branches on the highway.
Explaining the situation, the protesters stated that a Kengen team in 2018 conducted a survey on the claimed lands, and agreed to compensate each clan as per the findings.
“We have held talks with Kengen, and they promised by July 2023, we would meet in an official capacity. This is yet to happen,” another one explained.
“This is what has brought us here, we need the company to move forward with their promise and compensate us for the land.”
In the initial agreement, there were two terms of reference, which included the size of the land, and the quality of the piece of land.
“Kengen was tasked to find the documents from the surveys and they have not found them. It has been 5 years, that is why we are demonstrating, to be heard.”
No casualties were reported during the incident, however, more police officers were deployed to the area to contain the situation and restore traffic flow on the affected roads.
The Gitaru hydroelectric power station, situated between Embu and Machakos counties, supports a 225-megawatt power generation capacity.
