"Narasha Community Development Group (NCDG) Response to Akiira Geothermal Limited on their reply to the briefer of the research done by IAP and NCDG on Akiira 1 Geothermal Power Plant"

I wish to categorically recognise some good practices by the company such as holding frequent meetings with the committee, workshops, and visits to the neighboring schools. However, I wish to highlight specific areas that should be strengthened:

Improve on sharing information to the whole community without depending on the committee. This has left the majority of the community in darkness.
· Ensure inclusivity in your engagement by ensuring every affected community is fairly represented in the committee and continuous engagements without leaving any one behind.
· Ensure that feedback from the community is received and action taken to address their concerns.
· Ensure FPIC is applied to this community in order to prevent violation of cultural and religious rights. Maa is a culturally rich community and neglecting such will affect the generations to come.
· Prevent adverse environmental impacts, such as pollution and where it occurs, mitigation measures should be taken.
· Respect other people's opinions, accept positive criticism and build strong relations with all stakeholders including civil societies. Civil society organizations are registered,
recognized and accepted in Kenya through the constitution and internationally through international protocols.
· Conduct studies on the strength and weaknesses of the other companies and ensure they do not repeat their failures.
· Address issues around land, environment, cultural and community engagements in the course of project implementation.
Narasha Community Development Group will continue working with the community to build their capacity, raise early warning in the area, advise the companies on issues that need to be addressed and ensure rights of all citizen are respected by these companies as they operate in their communities.