Some residents have threatened to move to court to halt to halt construction of the Eldoret southern bypass due to compensation failure for land they surrendered three years ago for the Sh 5billion project.
Led by Kenya’s former ambassador to Democratic Republic of Congo Jacob Chumba, the residents claim some landowners received their awards more than a year ago in what they termed as a questionable compensation process.
Mr Chumba said for the last two years, the government has been promising to pay them, terming the delay as unfair to residents who surrendered land for the infrastructure expected to ease traffic jams in Eldoret town. He also added that he too is yet to receive Sh 2.6million for 0.3-acre land he surrendered for the bypass.
The 32km Eldoret Southern Bypass, was launched in August 2017, but failed to take off due to land compensation disputes pitting the State and more than 1,000 displaced families. In July 2018, the National Land Commission (NLC) admitted that it was facing difficulties in resolving boundary and land disputes between affected property owners and the government of Uasin Gishu.
Decongesting Eldoret town
The NLC later held discussions with the affected parties, and agreed on the way forward, thereby allowing the contractor, China Wu Yi Company Limited to commence construction works. However, the project stalled again in January this year after a fresh compensation row erupted. The affected landowners said they had not been paid three years after signing a deal with the government.
โMost of us are relying on the compensation to purchase alternative land. We need an urgent intervention by the State because farmers canโt grow crops on the land they have already surrendered,โ said Chumba, who is a resident of Kapseret.
The Eldoret Bypass, which is funded by African Development Bank, starts at Ngeria on Eldoret-Nakuru highway and passes through Kapseret near Eldoret Airport before re-joining Uganda Road at Maili Tisa. The road is aimed at decongesting Eldoret town by diverting traffic including long-distance trucks from the main Uganda highway which cuts across the town centre.
