Water CS Chelugui grilled over multi-billion Itare dam scandal

Water Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui was on Wednesday grilled over the Itare dam scandal.

Investigating officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters probed the CS over the Ksh. 8.9billion tender for the dam.

The dam has been at the heart of controversy after stalling for several months after, CMC Di Ravenna, the main contractor, filed for bankruptcy last year.

The move by the Italian firm caused the dam project to stall indefinitely.

Reports indicate that the dam had already used up Ksh.11 billion since construction began in April 2017 but now remains an incomplete project.

In July, CS Chelugui appeared before the Parliamentary Natural Resources Committee and indicated that the government only had three options left:

• continue with CMC Di Ravenna once it is cleared to operate again or
• search for a new contractor or
• sub contract another firm to complete the work but maintain CMC Di Ravenna as the main contractor.

The Natural Resources Committee however tasked Chelugui to explain why CMC Di Ravenna was not dropped as the contractor.

The dam has had an array of challenges ranging from compensation, flawed procurement processes and numerous court cases.

Reports indicate that the dam could turn out to be extremely costly should it be terminated in its entirety.