Gov’t working on law to cap land compensation values

The Ministry of Energy is working on legislation to cap the value of land compensation for energy projects.

This comes after the delayed execution of energy projects as land owners inflate prices to cash in on government funding.

Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter said wayleave acquisition had become a major constraint, often blowing the initial budget set out for the project.

The challenge has been the construction of semi permanent housing structures which land owners value at exorbitant values to gain from relocation funds.

“People give values which are imaginary. For a structure you can value at Sh2,000 somebody says they should be paid Sh2 million which hinders the progress of building transmission lines,” Mr Keter said.

The challenge has hit the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) the hardest, having to extend deadlines for projects.

One such case is the 428 kilometre high-voltage transmission line to evacuate power from the Lake Turkana wind power project in Marsabit.

KETRACO has so far spent Sh2 billion compensating land owners but is yet to complete other settlement claims.

This is expected to delay the delivery of the initial 110 megawatts of power from the Lake Turkana wind project that was scheduled to be on line by December.

Mr Keter said the bill would place greater burden of proof on landowners who will have to show that they have been paying land rates and associated taxes before qualifying for compensation.

“The bill will address the challenge of whether the land owner has been paying the land rates and what taxes will be levied on the compensation,” he stressed.

Land compensation hiccups have also affected the Kenya-Ethiopia transmission line set to transport cheap hydropower from Ethiopia.