Kenya 'Olkaria IV' Case Study Report: Human Rights Analysis of the Resettlement Process

Abstract

This case study considers the involuntary resettlement of about 950 people in August 2014 as part of the Olkaria IV project. Olkaria IV is a 140 MW geothermal power plant in Kenya, constructed with the financial support of European and other international finance institutions (IFIs). The Olkaria area by now has four plants and another four are being planned. In addition to Olkaria, geothermal exploration has been undertaken elsewhere in the Rift Valley. All Kenyan geothermal power plants, in Olkaria and elsewhere, are already or are expected to be registered as Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. Geothermal power also accommodates international donors’ and development banks’ official commitments to support climate mitigation. In this context the Olkaria IV resettlement may serve as a showcase of the socioeconomic challenges and human rights infringements project affected people are exposed to. The case study discusses the alleged human rights violations and disentangles the complex web of responsibilities. It provides for local background information, discusses the national and international legal frameworks, and puts its focus on the extraterritorial obligations of the financiers, in particular of the European Investment Bank and its shareholders: the EU and the EU member states. Emphasis of the human rights analysis rests on the situation of procedural rights, which arguably contributed to the infringement of substantive rights.