Ruto's North Rift tour puts spotlight on stalled mega projects

President William Ruto greets residents of Tiaty, Baringo County during his tour of the North Rift region. [PCS]

President William Ruto is on a 10-day tour of the North Rift region, which will culminate in the 2026 Mashujaa Day celebrations at Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret.

The tour, which started in Endebess, Trans Nzoia County, on Saturday, will see the President launch and commission several projects across the region.

According to his itinerary, Ruto is scheduled to visit Elgeyo Marakwet, Uasin Gishu, Nandi, West Pokot and Baringo counties.

Modern markets, affordable housing, sports facilities, roads and water projects are among the initiatives lined up for commissioning or launch during the tour.

However, several flagship projects that featured prominently in Kenya Kwanza’s 2022 election pledges appear to have been pushed to the back burner, as they are missing from the President’s packed programme.

The Arror and Kimwarer mega dams in Elgeyo Marakwet, as well as plans to revive fluorspar mining in the Kerio Valley, are conspicuously absent from the itinerary.

Last year, the same projects, which were expected to create more than 5,000 jobs, remained stalled.

By Saturday, when the tour began, the fluorspar mining site  in Keiyo South remained overgrown and deserted. The sites earmarked for the Arror and Kimwarer dams, which were planned to supply water for irrigation in the drought-prone Kerio Valley, were also devoid of construction activity.

Keiyo South MP Gideon Kimaiyo said in July last year that fluorspar mining in his constituency had yet to resume because of a problem with electricity connections.

“We were expecting that fluorspar mining would be up and running by now and youth from all corners of Elgeyo Marakwet would be working but an electricity itch has prevented the new investor from reviving mining. We are requesting you to help us,” the MP told President Ruto during a visit to his constituency.

On June 29, 2024, fluorspar mining in Kimwarer, which had employed more than 3,000 locals, was expected to resume after an eight-year hiatus.

At the mining site, a new investor, a United Kingdom-based firm, announced that it had invested Sh4.8 billion in reviving the operations.

For local residents, who had pinned their hopes on the project, the unveiling of the investor raised expectations of an economic revival and employment opportunities for unemployed youth.

The new mining company, Sofax Fluorspar, secured a 25-year lease.

“Landowners have not been compensated since the Jomo Kenyatta administration. My father agitated for compensation in 1976 but the matter has not been concluded to date,” community elder Yusuf Keitany said.

President William Ruto addresses residents of Tiaty, Baringo County during his tour of the North Rift region. [PCS]

The Ruto administration has also remained silent on the resumption of the Sh63 billion Arror and Kimwarer dams, as well as Kamariny Stadium in Iten.

On March 14, 2023, Ruto met his Italian counterpart, Sergio Mattarella, in Nairobi, where they discussed the resumption of the stalled projects.

“We have further committed, in good faith, to re-establish cooperation  on  the  construction  of  Arror, Kimwarer  and Itare dams and other water and sanitation projects, which are critical to our agenda on  food  security  and  climate action,” a State House statement read in part.

In 2024, Kenya brokered a deal with Italian contractors who had begun surveying the Arror and Kimwarer dam sites before the projects were embroiled in controversy in 2019.

When he visits Elgeyo Marakwet, where the dams are located, on Tuesday and Thursday, Ruto is scheduled to commission the Kipkundul-Kapyego-Kamelei road, break ground for the Kabiego water project and market, and inspect learning institutions in Chebara.

He is also expected to launch the construction of the Timboroa-Sekuton-Moringwo-Poror-Magrib-Sirwa-Lawina Ochi road and issue 6,300 title deeds in Keiyo South.

The programme also lists the commissioning of affordable housing in Eldoret City and water projects in Kesses.

However, regional leaders have defended the President’s development record despite delays in implementing the mega projects.

Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago said Ruto would commission the first Kenya School of TVET outside Nairobi, which will be located in Moiben.

“The country has had only one School of TVET which was based in Nairobi and this will be a milestone. We are fortunate that we will be hosting a national institution in our county,” Mandago said.

President William Ruto launches development projects in Baringo County during his tour of the North Rift region. [PCS]

Other projects lined up in Uasin Gishu include the Ziwa Dam and the Ziwa-Sirikwa Machine road, as well as an inspection of Ziwa Level Five Hospital.

Mandago said the President’s tour and the Mashujaa Day celebrations would showcase the region’s tourism potential.

“We want to ask Kenyans to visit the region during the Mashujaa Day celebrations because it has several tourist sites, especially in Elgeyo Marakwet and Baringo,” he said.

Kipchoge Keino Stadium, which will host the Mashujaa Day celebrations, is among the projects that had stalled but have since been revived as Kenya prepares to co-host the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) next year.

Uasin Gishu Woman Representative Gladys Boss said affordable housing was among Ruto’s most successful projects.

“We will demonstrate to Kenyans that the President has fulfilled all his promises to the region,” she said.

Masibo Lumala, a professor of communication and political analyst at Moi University, said Ruto was visiting the region at a time when he was expected to have completed several projects initiated by his administration.

Prof Lumala said Ruto was likely to use the tour to consolidate support in areas such as Trans Nzoia, where Governor George Natembeya, a prominent critic of his administration, had gained political traction in recent months.

“The troubles at Moi University, for instance, created an impression that an institution at the President’s home county was facing challenges and the solution to the problems lay on him (Ruto),” Lumala said.

He added: “The multi-million dams in Elgeyo Marakwet should also be his priority. The President met Italian authorities over the water projects before everything went silent. I hope that he asks Uasin Gishu governor to make Eldoret a modern city.”