Africa-Press – Kenya. Members of the National Assembly Committee on Environment, Forestry, and Mining on Tuesday, March 11, resorted to conducting an extensive stakeholders’ engagement before the construction of the proposed Ksh500 billion nuclear power plant in Kilifi commences.
The decision was arrived at during the session after a majority of the committee members agreed with the proposal, and just a few opposed it.
Those who backed the project cited its potential benefits to the national economy as had been demonstrated in other developing countries.
“Let us not kill something that has been invented elsewhere and helped others; we only need to come up with a plan to fill the gaps in some of our observations. This is a national project involving taxpayers,” Kacheliba MP Titus Lotee noted.
He, however, noted that a site visit to Uyomba, Kilifi, had exposed several critical gaps and weaknesses in the Strategic Environment and Social Assessment (SESA), suggesting that Kenya’s nuclear power programme is not yet ready to address the significant challenges and risks it presents.
The assessment was made in consideration of the Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) advisory report.
Mohammed Tubi, the Isiolo North MP, who was among those who opposed the project, backed MP Lotee’s concerns, adding that at the moment, Kenya was not ready for the project.
Kilifi County lawmaker Hon. Gertrude Mbeyu, on her part, urged the committee to consider the residents’ grievances that clearly state they are worried about the environmental implications of the plant being constructed in the area.
“Chair, this report is about Uyombo residents and not about global interests; let’s respect what they told this Committee at the time of the visit,” she stated.
The committee ultimately resolved to engage several state agencies, including the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry, the Ministry of Energy, the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA), the Kenya Nuclear Regulatory Authority (KNRA), and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), before coming up with a report to be tabled to the National Assembly.
On October 15, 2024, Environment CS Aden Duale denied claims that the construction of the controversial project had already kicked off in Kilifi when appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Environment.
This clarification had been necessitated by protests from Kilifi residents who had suspected the project had kicked off despite their intense opposition.
However, Duale denied the claims, stating, “There was no such project in Kilifi County, but instead, the Kenya Meteorological Department has set up their weather equipment on the said site.”
Since the government announced plans to build Kenya’s first-ever nuclear plant in 2023, residents on the coast and the larger Kenya have raised deep concerns over the implications of the emissions.
During the announcement, NuPEA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Justus Wabuyabo stated that they were considering Kilifi or Kwale for the project. The construction of the 1,000MW nuclear plant is set to begin in 2027 and begin operations by 2034.
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