The National Land Commission (NLC) has adopted alternative dispute resolution to resolve land compensation-related conflicts in the Sh20 billion Mwache Dam project.
The commission resorted to the mechanism as a quicker path to resolve and disburse pending payments amounting to Sh238 million that has in the last month threatened to stall the construction of the multipurpose dam.
Residents of Kinango Constituency in Kwale County last month stopped the construction works demanding compensation for land they voluntarily allowed the contractor to progress works pending payments by the NLC.
NLC chief executive Kabale Tache told Nation that the commission is in the process of fast tracking the pending payment and has since dispatched its technical team to sort the dispute with the Project Affected Persons (PAPs) and the project consultants.
The total cost for land acquisition for the project is Sh4.5 billion for 4674 PAPs. The Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, which is the acquiring entity, has since remitted Sh2.1 billion to the commission for onward compensation for the property owners.
Of the amount, the commission already processed compensation of Sh1.89 billion for 2,589 affected persons. The commission is, however, still holding Sh237.9 million for 150 PAPs over property ownership disputes.
“The unpaid balance of Sh238 million is because of some unresolved disputes or lack of necessary documents from PAPs that would facilitate them being paid. As you can see the Commission has paid out about 90 per cent of the funds it has received and we continue to pay the PAPs on a continuous basis as soon as their pending issues are resolved,” said Ms Tache.
“Continuous advocacy of ADRs-Alternative Dispute Resolutions (Grievance Redress Mechanisms)-has been adopted in Mwache Dam Project where multiple land and compensation related conflicts have been settled out of Court. This is jointly being done by the Commission, Acquiring Agency, National Government Administrative Offices(NGAO), Grievance Redress Mechanism Committee.
This is the same approach applied previously under Thwake Dam Project whereby all PAPs pending matters have been resolved and compensation disbursed fully,” she explained.
Last Friday, the National Assembly’s Committee on Blue Economy, Water and Irrigation in a meeting with Principal Secretary for Irrigation Ephantus Kiomotho and representatives of Treasury and NLC heard that payments had started hitting accounts of the PAPs but construction works were yet to resume.
Kinango MP Gonzi Rai, who drew the attention of the committee to the stalled project, said the only problem holding back the resumption of the construction works is a dispute between the contractor and employees who are demanding salaries for July when the project had stopped.
“The contractor is refusing to pay his workers, arguing that they did not work during the period under which the landowners stopped the dam construction. On the other hand, employees are demanding salaries for July when the project had been stopped due to compensation,” Mr Rai told the committee.
The commission told Nation that it can only pay land whose ownership is clear and all the paperwork approved.
“Often times we have cases of disputes on the ownership of land, lack of clarity on ownership, delays caused by succession among other issues. Unless these issues are resolved and the ownership of a particular piece of land is clear, NLC cannot pay out compensation,” said the chief executive.
“It is the minimum NLC does to safeguard the taxpayers' money. The Sh238 million falls under the same category. Some PAPs are yet to clarify ownership status of parcels of lands they claim. The money is held in an interest earning account until all the outstanding issues are resolved. Only then will NLC process payments,” she explained.
She said the commission has continued to engage the PAPs as well as the acquiring entity, especially for the ministry to remit the pending balance to pay off the remaining property owners.
