A bold government push to introduce nuclear power into Kenya’s energy mix is now colliding with stiff grassroots resistance in Nyanza, after a council of Luo elders firmly opposed plans to site the country’s first nuclear power plant in Siaya County.

Speaking after a closed-door meeting on December 21, the elders said they had unanimously resolved to block the proposed facility, warning that the project poses serious health, environmental and ecological risks that could stretch far beyond Kenya’s borders.

Their concern, they said, is not just about Siaya or Lake Victoria, but the wider East African region that depends on the lake for livelihoods, food security and shared ecosystems.

“In assessing the potential impact of a nuclear facility near Lake Victoria, we found the risks to human health and the environment too grave to ignore. On that basis, the council has rejected the project in its entirety,” the elders said in a joint statement.

To reinforce their stance, the elders announced the formation of a special committee tasked with studying the long-term implications of the project, particularly if the government proceeds despite local opposition. The committee is expected to engage experts and community stakeholders and present alternative views to policymakers.

The dispute traces back to September, when the Kenya Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA) publicly identified Siaya County as the leading candidate for Kenya’s first nuclear power plant. The project, estimated to cost about Ksh500 billion, is designed to produce an initial 1,000 megawatts of electricity, with ambitions to ramp output up to 20,000 megawatts by 2040.

NuPEA has been scouting multiple sites along the Lake Victoria shoreline, attracted by the vast volumes of water required to cool nuclear reactors. Areas under consideration include Lwanda Kotieno, Ugambe, Sirongo, Liunda, Manywanda, Osindo, Nyangoye, Kanyawayaga and Dagamoyo.

At the national level, the project has powerful backers. The late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga previously hailed the nuclear plan as a transformative step for Kenya’s development trajectory. Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi has also championed the initiative, presenting it as a cornerstone of industrial growth in the Nyanza region.

Siaya Governor James Orengo has echoed that optimism, arguing that the plant would unlock jobs, attract investment and reposition the county as a regional economic hub.

But the elders’ resistance highlights a growing fault line between development ambitions and community anxieties. The controversy mirrors an earlier setback for the project in Kilifi County, where residents successfully pushed back against a proposed nuclear site over environmental fears.

As President William Ruto pursues the nuclear project as part of his broader vision to propel Kenya toward first-world status, the pushback from Siaya underscores a familiar reality,  mega infrastructure plans, especially those touching sensitive ecosystems, will not move forward without intense scrutiny and consent from the communities expected to host them.