House Committee express fears over delayed construction of Thwake dam

Makueni,

Saturday November 11, 2023

KNA by Ronald Rono/ Patrick Nyakundi

The National Assembly departmental committee on Blue Economy and Irrigation has raised concerns over slow progress in the constructions of Thwake Multi-purpose dam project.

The parliamentary committee chaired by Marakwet East MP David Kangogo decried that the pace at which the multibillion project was being constructed at the confluence of River Athi and Thwake in the border of Makueni and Kitui counties was wanting and demanded explanation.

He said the delay had forced the committee to summon officials from the Ministry of Water, China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC), who are the main contractors and Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation consultancy firm to shed more light on the same.

Consequently, Kangogo said the –would- be beneficiaries of the project have waited for seven years with the hope that the dam would have sorted their water issues, but the first phase of construction of the dam is not yet completed. 

"We are concerned about the slow pace of the project especially if you see what is happening in the background. The contractor has really scaled down work and we don't think by February 2024 this project would be complete," said Committee chairperson, during their fact finding mission at the Thwake dam site Friday.

“This project is expected to provide water supply, hydro power generation of up to 20MW and irrigate 100,000 acres of land in Makueni Kitui counties. The residents have waited for long. This is why as a committee we are concerned,” said Kangogo.

While noting that contractor and sub-contractors have their own issues that have slowed the progress, the MPs reiterated the need for the Ministry of Water to ensure all technical challenges affecting the dam are properly dealt with.

Kangogo urged the contractor to scale up this project by increasing the manpower on the ground and equipment as they sort out issues with their sub-contractors.

Among concerns raised by the leaders included the scope of work, a variation of Sh9.2 billion over and above the initial cost of Sh36 billion, inability to undertake Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects, destruction of road networks by heavy machinery and issues of compensations.

"We want to even look into the scope of work here if it is as per the contract terms, there are a lot of complaints concerning CSR, the road network has been completely destroyed and some persons have not been compensated," added Kangogo.

"However, NEMA and other various agencies are addressing the issues of upstream water pollution at Athi River and we will also inquire on contamination because there is no need to spend over Sh50 billion on the dam, yet the water will not be utilized because of pollution," he added.

Other members in the delegation included Kuria East Maisori Marwa (Vice Chairman), Eng. Stanley Muthama (Lamu West), Amina Mnyazi (Malindi), Eng. Paul Nzengu (Mwingi North) and also the Makueni MP Susan Kiamba.

Currently the first phase of Vision 2030 enabler is at 87.5% and is expected to supply water to 1.3 million residents drawn from the rural parts of the Lower Eastern counties.

However, the project was to be completed by 4th November 2022, but the onset of Covid- 19 pandemic led to scaling down of labour force. 

The Thwake Multipurpose Water Development Program is being implemented by the Government of Kenya and the African Development Bank (AfDB) through the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation.

Courtesy; KNA