The Solai dam tragedy that has swept away over 44 lives and left others is not a natural occurrence; it is a result of negligence and impunity
This is according to Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria.
The lawmaker says the regulator, Water Resources and Management Authority (Warma) has failed in its job and the ultimate price of negligence was paid off by innocent residents who perished in the tragedy.
He also said the owner of the dam, Patel Mansukul acted with impunity all along.
“The Solai tragedy was not an accident. It was simply an act of negligence on the side of the regulator, the Water Resource Management Authority and impunity by the owner Mr Patel,” he said on Friday.
The legislator went ahead to ask Water Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui to send Warma boss on compulsory leave for sleeping on his job.
“….Water CS Simon Chelugui to send the CEO of WARMA on compulsory leave pending investigations. I call upon the DPP to charge the WARMA CEO and Mr Patel with 46 counts of murder. Let’s get serious as a nation,” he added.
The Patel dam burst its banks on Wednesday night around 9pm. It swept a whole village with the number of casualties rising to 46 by Friday.
Warma in a statement yesterday said the dam was illegal, so are six more dams in Mansukul’s vast 6000 acres farm.
“For the last one year, we have been trying to engage the company on how to legalize the dams but they have been reluctant. As far as we are concerned, the dams are illegal,” Warma regional manager in the Rift Valley Simon Wang’ombe said according to Daily Nation.
The law dictates that any private dam that is beyond five metres high to be regularized by Warma.
Mansukul is the proprietor of Patel Coffee Estates Limited which deals in large-scale production of coffee, macadamia, dairy and beef production.