The Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has relocated 150 families from Olkaria to pave way for the construction of a new power plant.
The exercise, which began on Thursday, will see the families benefit from a two-bedroom house with a kitchen and a living room seated on a one-acre plot under the Resettlement Action Plan. The construction of the houses was partly funded by the World Bank and KenGen at a cost of Sh5 billion.
Elated community members moving from the manyattas have never accessed electricity and tapped water. The members viewed this as a double blessing.
Speaking during the exercise, Olkaria Geothermal plant manager Cyrus Kirongothi said the Maasai will also benefit from three modern churches, a school and a dispensary. Kirongothi added that the company had acquired 1,700 acres in Kedong farm to resettle the families.
“We wanted to pave way for geothermal exploration in the area and the place where the Maasais were had huge geothermal reservoirs,” he added.
Among the villages that benefited from the project were Olosinyat, Olongonot, Cultural Centre and Olomaiyana Ndogo, which are seated on a 4,200-acre piece of land.
Katoliki Namasiangi, one of the beneficiaries, said the new houses will provide a chance for them to start a new life.
“I have lived in a manyatta for 40 years. This will be a new turnaround for my life,” she added.
Community chairman Maenga Ole Kisotu welcomed the initiative, saying the move indicated the company respected the people who were their stakeholders.