After the long wait, the approximately 1,700 families affected by the multi-billion Dongo Kundu economic zone project will receive their compensation.
This is after an approximate eight months of verification of names of the persons affected by the government project—after it emerged that the first list presented to the government was fabricated.
While attending a forum to deliberate on the payment procedures, Nominated Senator Miraj Abdilah accused a section of Mombasa County politicians for colluding with external quarters to distabilise the compensation process for their selfish gains.
Miraj, claimed that the politicians deliberately interfered with the process and affected the entire process by inducing names of people who were not the rightfully beneficiaries of the 1.4 billion shillings compensation fund.
According to the Senator, it took the intervention of President William Ruto who stopped the compensation processes until all the names were verified, analysed and reaffirmed that indeed they were the bona fide beneficiaries of the compensation.
“I urge those mandated to carry out the entire compensation process to do it diligently, in transparent manner and to fear no one or any threats that may come after the dubious efforts to fuse in fake names were busted,” noted Ms Abdilah.
She appealed to the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Managing Director Captain William Ruto who is directly in charge of the compensation process to stand firm and never to bow to any threats from any external quarters but ensure the affected families receive their compensation.
“If this whole exercise was stopped by the Head of State it was because the President wants total transparency and those affected be facilitated to relocate and start new life elsewhere. There should be no recurrence of any corrupt or dubious deals whatsoever,” Miraj further noted.
Long wait
The families have been for the last three years waiting for the payment to enable them relocate to other parcels of land that was also provided by the government.
The money is meant to enable them construct new homes after they were forced to demolish their houses to pave way for the governments’ mega project that is meant to create a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and open the country to local and international investors.
Already Taifa Gas from Tanzania has initiated a gas plant in the area.
Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone will see several other projects launched in the area that’s sits on the Mombasa and Kwale counties border.
Free port, Trading zone, Animal reserve, Conference halls among other critical business and investment facilities are among the scheduled projects that will come up in Dongo Kundu.
