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'Turkwel River' is a river flowing from Mount Elgon in the border of Kenya and Uganda to Lake Turkana. The river is called Suam River from its source to the border with the West Pokot District of Kenya. The name Turkwel is derived from the Turkana name for the river, ''Tirkol'', which means "river of many fish."
A controversial hydro power plant was built by the Kenyan government in the early 1990s with the help of France. The plan was to harness the waters of the Turkwel. The project was initially supposed to cost 4 billion Kenyan shillings, but ended up costing more than 20 billion. Due to unreliable water amounts and silting in this very dry part of Kenya, very little electricity is being generated here.