CS Mugaa blames Russia-Ukraine war for stalled Thwake Dam project

Water Cabinet Secretary Eric Mugaa has attributed the stalled construction of the Thwake multi-purpose dam at the confluence of Thwake and Athi rivers on the Kitui-Makueni counties border to the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Ksh.82 billion project’s completion date has been pushed back several times since construction began in March 2018.

Appearing before the Senate on Wednesday, the minister was asked by Makueni Senator Dan Maanzo to explain the delay, to which he cited the ongoing conflict which escalated in February 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.

But angry senators pressed Mugaa on the relationship between the war in Eastern Europe and dam construction in East Africa.

“Our access for explosives required to blast the foundations of the rock bed were not easily accessible. It slowed the progress of the work. It’s a global market,” he responded.

In January last year, the Kenyan government, for the fourth time, pushed back Thwake Dam’s completion date after the main contractor, China Ghezhouba Group Company, said it would not meet the February 4, 2024 deadline.

The contractor wanted more time to complete the dam in December 2024.

At the time, the project had consumed over Ksh.22 billion, monies funded mainly by the African Development Bank.

Last June, then-Water CS Zachariah Njeru said the government had spent over Ksh.36 billion to construct the project’s embankment area.

Njeru said the dam’s first phase would be done by December 2024 and that water supply, hydropower development, and irrigation would follow soon after.