An MoU was also signed between the Siaya and Bondo councils – but not Busia, where the farms extend to. Burgess was to pay Sh15 million to a council account – which he claims in a published interview that he did – before it was emptied and closed after the payments. As compensation, the MoU had asked Dominion to rehabilitate 150 acres as community land but he was forced to give more than that

While he was patient to see his Yala project thrive, he was impatient with the government bureaucracy and that is how Oburu Odinga sought to push for the approval of the project by taking on the government on the floor of the House. And he did this with the support of other Nyanza MPs.

This was at a time when the Ministry of Water Resources – under Martha Karua – and Natural Resources – under Newton Kulundu and Prof Wangari Maathai – had stopped the project and asked Dominion to hand back all the government equipment and houses.
The stoppage of the Dominion project sparked protests in Kisumu, Bondo and Siaya and the demonstrators accused the Mwai Kibaki government of attempting to sideline the Luo by frustrating foreign investors. It was the ministry of Planning and National Development, then under Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o, that gave Dominion the go-ahead.

To his credit, Mr Burgess rehabilitated the Yala swamp into a formidable showcase. It stands out as one of the best run irrigation schemes in Eastern Africa employing hundreds of people. What he forgot was that powerplay, politics and business are sisters.
It was the success of this venture that saw Nigeria’s Obasanjo invite him to Nigeria which was looking for a rice investor to feed its growing population.