[Police remove the body of a man who was shot dead in Bonyunyu, Nyamira as residents protest construction of a dam. Photo/nation.co.ke]
One person was on Tuesday shot dead in Bonyunyu, Nyamira County during a protest by villagers over construction of a dam.
The residents together with a section of leaders were demanding that proper consultations are done before the construction which is scheduled to begin in August this year starts.
During the protest, Mr Jomo Nyanguti, was shot when he confronted police officers guarding a team of surveyors doing mapping at the site where the dam is to be built.
According to the Daily Nation, one officer was injured in the eye during the confrontations and the police arrested three people, among them two women.
Former Kitutu Masaba MP Timothy Bosire who condemned the killing said the government should allow for public participation before the project starts.
Mr Bosire said the residents maybe displaced as the government at the moment is attempting to arm-twist them into agreeing to the construction of the dam yet no public participation has been done as required by law.
“Gachuba’s Bonyunyu land is no idle land, it is inhabited and the people want the truth because they may be displaced. They must be told in no uncertain terms what lies in store for them when the project is being set up,” Mr Bosire told Nation by phone.
“There are attendant ecological challenges to it and we must face it. The people will be displaced yet nobody has come up to say where they are going to be settled. These are grey areas that if not addressed the project will become a cropper,” Mr Bosire said as quoted by Nation.
John Omambia, a Nyamira resident said they will not allow the project to go on accusing the government of a plot to grab land from them.
“If the project is genuine then they can as well take it to the Kisii County government which is fronting it. They have River Kuja and can as well use it,” said Mr Omambia.