Ketraco sues Kajiado ranchers over Sh700m claim

The Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) has sued 561 Kajiado-based ranchers and firms for refusing to release land which the State-owned firm compensated them for, a move it says has led to a Sh700 claim from contractors and consultants.

Ketraco wants the ranchers and firms to compensate it for the massive loss, arguing that they have delayed construction for over three years despite being compensated for their land between 2010 and 2013.

The State corporation purchased the land to complete installation of high voltage power lines between Mombasa and Nairobi.

Ketraco claims it has been slapped with demands for the Sh700 million from consultants and contractors it hired to lay transmission lines following the delays.

Ketraco adds that the failure to complete the Mombasa-Nairobi project by the initial March 2013 deadline has seen taxpayers forced to part with an extra Sh5.4 billion cost.

The project was initially to cost Sh11 billion but had racked up bills of Sh16.5 billion as at December last year, Ketraco holds.

“The project had up to December 2015 accumulated Sh16.5 billion in expenditure as it was scheduled to be completed in March 2013. Ketraco has received demands for claims arising out of the interruptions amounting to approximately Sh700 million,” says Duncan Macharia, Ketraco’s company secretary.

None of the 561 defendants has responded to the suit filed in the Environment and Lands Division of the High Court. Ketraco says the ranchers’ move to block contractors from the land is part of a bid to force the state corporation into renegotiating compensation terms upwards.

Documents filed in court show that the ranchers and firms were paid between Sh280,000 and Sh36.9 million.

The Mombasa-Nairobi line is required to tap thermal generation at the Coast as well as 1,760MW from the planned coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed the Ministry of Energy to mediate the dispute between the ranchers and Ketraco, a move that forced the state corporation to seek adjournment of the suit on Monday.