Argwings Odera is a Freelance Investigative Journalist based in Nairobi Kenya.
In recent times his life was threatened because of his critical coverage of a dam project in western Kenya. A local resident himself, Odera saw many faults in the Sondu Miriu Dam project that the mainstream media had missed.
“The project at that stage was a white elephant, and the locals were going to get stuck with the environmental consequences. They wanted to divert the river for a 17-kilometer stretch, but members of the community depended on this water. The mainstream media only covered the proposed benefits without looking at the less rosy picture on the ground,” he says.
Eventually Odera’s reports of mismanaged funds caught the ear of donors such as the Japanese government, and outside funding was withheld.
