Anti-nuclear Power Forum in Siaya County have condemned the violent confrontation during a nuclear power plant stakeholder meeting at Ka’John Trading Centre in Lenya, Central Sakwa.

The forum, a consortium of local Community-Based Organizations, condemned the 24 July 2026 incident where police opened live fire on residents protesting the proposed project, leaving 34-year-old David Otieno Mboya injured.

Mboya was shot in the leg, received initial treatment at Uyawi Dispensary, and remains hospitalized at Bondo Sub-County Hospital.

The violent collapse of the forum, jointly convened by the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA), and Bondo MP Gideon Ochanda, marks the fourth consecutive month of escalating grassroots resistance in Central Sakwa.

Community members previously disrupted public meetings in May, prompting NuPEA CEO Justus Wabuyabo to publicly promise that no nuclear infrastructure would proceed without full local consent. Despite community leaders reaffirming their rejection in writing in June—citing risks of eviction from over 8 square kilometers of ancestral land and contamination threats to Lake Victoria—residents faced armed officers during NuPEA’s fast-tracked engagement drive in July.

The Anti-Nuclear Power Forum strongly criticized NuPEA Chairman Prof. Lawrence Gumbe for dismissing community opposition as the noise of “petit bourgeois narodniks,” arguing that such posture turned a constitutional duty of public participation into a conflict ending in gunfire. The group also highlighted critical discrepancies in project figures, contrasting official claims of needing “only a small parcel of land” with community briefings indicating that over 8 km² will be hived off for resettlement.

In response to the escalation, the consortium outlined key demands first, an immediate IPOA investigation into the shooting of David Otieno Mboya and police conduct at Ka’John Trading Centre, with criminal accountability for officers involved.

Secondly, the consortium demands an immediate halt of all engagement drives and project timelines while community safety and trust are compromised.

Further to that, the stakeholders should publicize exact land-take acreages, resettlement frameworks, and all technical, human rights, and environmental impact assessments.

The government also ought to take full coverage of Mboya’s medical and rehabilitative costs by the state, and offer a formal written apology from Prof Larry Gumbe for remarks belittling local stakeholders.

Other demands include, abandoning the nuclear proposal in favor of faster, lower-risk renewables like solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro power and adopt a genuine Free, Prior, and Informed Consent process.

Recalling that the nuclear project was previously moved from Uyombo, Kilifi County following similar opposition, the forum pledged to maintain peaceful, lawful mobilization to protect local livelihoods, health, and the Lake Victoria ecosystem.