President William Ruto has announced that work on the Arror and Kimwarer dams in Elgeyo Marakawet County will resume.
Following Tuesday's negotiations with his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella, Ruto told reporters at State House in Nairobi that the two nations had agreed to drop their legal actions related to the failed project.
"I am delighted to say that the governments of Kenya and Italy have reached an understanding; in fact, the court proceedings have already begun in earnest. According to President Ruto, the Italian government and the contractors would withdraw their arbitration proceedings when the Kenyan government withdraws its lawsuits against the corporations.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta cancelled the massive project in 2019 after an investigation uncovered a fraud in which billions they paid to an Italian company for work they never did.
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The Head of State has stated that funds for this project will be reorganized, and work will start again soon.
"We're going to rearrange the financing that was already made accessible. In the upcoming month, we will resolve the legal difficulties. In a few months, the man said we should be able to continue building these dams.
Former Treasury CS Henry Rotich, former KVDA Managing Director David Kimosop, and seven others are accused of conspiring to steal the Kenyan government in the multi-billion shilling fraud case.
Initially charging 24 people in connection with the scandal, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) later dropped the charges against 15, including former Treasury PS Kamau Thugge and his former East Africa Community counterpart Susan Jemutai Koech after they agreed to testify for the prosecution.
