Following several false starts, the Mwache water reservoir project was finally launched by the President of the Republic of Kenya, William Ruto. Sinohydro Corporation and Engineering of China are the contractors for the project.
The multipurpose Mwache dam is currently under construction. On April 6, 2023, Kenyan President William Ruto laid the project’s foundation. Construction was initially scheduled to begin in 2018, but it has been repeatedly postponed. The delay came as a result of disputes over land and compensation issues.
The most recent deadline for starting the project in Kwale County was February 2022. This resulted in a delay of more than five years in the construction of the Mwache water reservoir.
The Mwache water reservoir project contractor
The Kenyan Ministry of Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation awarded Sinohydro Corporation and Engineering of China the 20 billion Kenyan shilling contract. The dam will be delivered in seven years by the Beijing-based company.
The Mwache water reservoir will be built on the Mwache River in Fulugani village. An 87.5-meter-high concrete gravity dam will be constructed, spanning an area of 250,000 hectares. It is expected that 118 million m3 of water would be held in the new dam lake. In Kwale County, 2,600 hectares of land will be irrigated using the dammed water.
In Mombasa and Kilifi counties, the project would help boost the resilience of small-scale farmers. It is a response to drought in a nation where starvation is affecting 2.4 million people across 20 dries, semi-arid northern counties. This is according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) of the United Nations.
Using a plant with a daily capacity of 186,000 m3, water from the Mwache dam will also be treated and supplied to people. As part of Kenya’s project to improve climate resilience and water security, the Mwache Dam is under construction. The project has the financial backing of the World Bank. It also aims to strengthen the institutional framework and increase the country’s capacity for water security and climate resilience.
Background
The Mwache Multipurpose Dam will be situated on 1,600 acres of land across the Mwache River at the Fulugani village in Kinango Sub-County in Kwale County. It will be an 87.5-meter-tall concrete gravity dyke, impounding 118 million cubic meters of water with a daily supply of 186,000 cubic meters of water.
Designed by the Association of Nippon Koei Consulting Engineers Ltd of Japan, Mangat I.B. Patel (MIBP) Ltd, and AF Consult of Switzerland, with Dr. M.R.H. Dunstan of MD&A of the UK, the Mwache Multipurpose Dam will be a Roller-Compacted Concrete (RCC) gravity dam, the first of its kind in East Africa.
It is also expected to put 2,600 hectares of land into irrigation to address the food shortage experienced in Kwale County.
Dec 2015
Dam in Kenya to be constructed with World Bank support
The World Bank will support the construction of a dam in Kenya to provide enough water to residents. This follows a financial agreement that was signed by Kenya and the World Bank to the tune of US$ 200m to help in the construction of the Mwache dam in Kwale County.
The agreement which was signed during climate talks in Paris is part of a larger project under the Paris Pact Flagship Project that targets to build resilient water systems in cities.
Mombasa County Governor Hassan Joho, who signed the deal along with Kenya’s Water and Irrigation Services Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa, was pleased and said that the construction of a dam in Kenya would ease the water deficit problem where the county only supplies 46,000 cubic meters to residents.
“This dam will give us surplus water that we will distribute to other counties,” Mr. Joho said.
Other than the financing pledged to Kenya, World Bank has also guaranteed a further US$2.2bn to go towards conserving the Lake Chad basin which is experiencing major water stress, also countries currently impacted by El Niño have been big winners at the Paris talks with the announcement that the European Union will provide US$125m to support the affected countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
The Paris Talks have attracted a lot of international partnerships such as the Lima Paris Action Agenda, which is mobilizing large-scale financing to protect the most vulnerable people from the impact of climate change.
The funding is meant to bring life-saving emergency assistance and bolster overall resilience in the affected states. It will combine humanitarian and development assistance to address immediate nutrition, sanitation, health, and housing needs.
June 2018
US $150m Mwache Dam project to be developed in Mombasa County
A US $150m dam is set for construction in Mombasa, Kenya. This is after the government signed a credit facility agreement with France for its commencement, having an objective of providing 138,000,000 M3 of water for Kwale & Mombasa Counties and rehabilitating the degraded Mwache Catchment.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich says the facility, extended by Agence Francaise De Development, comes with a 1.46% interest rate per annum and has 20 years repayment period including an 8-year grace period.
“We expect the dam to serve the entire Mombasa County and to be completed in three years,” Rotich said.
The Mwache Multi-purpose Dam Development Project is a priority investment by the Government as a flagship project of Vision 2030. The project was under the portfolio of the former Ministry of Regional Development Authorities (MoRDA) through the Coast Development Authority (CDA) working in partnership with Coast Water Services Board (CWSB).
Credit facility agreement
The main user of the water, Mombasa County, through the Mombasa Water and Sewerage Company (MOWASCO), is now part of the partnership and is working jointly with CWSB and CDA.
The dam site is located across the Mwache River at the Fulugani village, Kwale County, about 22 km west of the city of Mombasa. The Coast Water Supply Master Plan has identified the dam as the preferential, viable, and necessary long-term option for water supply to Mombasa and Kwale counties.
Treasury has also signed a credit facility agreement for a non-sovereign loan of US $72m for the Meru Wind project between Kenya Electricity Generation Company and AFD. Further to the two statement letters were signed which include one in support of the implementation of public finance management reforms at a cost of US $40m and another in support of the electricity transmission network at a cost of approximately US $110m.
July 2021
US $183M Mwache Dam project in Kenya to begin before the end of the year
Construction of the Mwache Dam project in Kenya is set to begin before the end of the year. Coast Development Authority (CDA), Managing Director (MD), Dr. Mohamed Keinan announced the Authority has finished rehabilitation works ahead of the project launch.
The Mwache Multipurpose Dam development project under the portfolio of the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation is a priority investment by the National Government as a flagship project under Vision 2030.
“We have completed activities around the project site such as tree planting, terracing, contour plowing, rock terracing, gabion construction, and riparian marking and pegging. The land conservation measures made will go a long way in preserving the topsoil within the Mwache drainage system.
CDA is the executing agency of rehabilitation works, while the Ministry of Water, through the Project Management Unit (PMU), is the overall implementing agency of the project that is expected to offer a lasting solution to the water shortages facing residents of Kwale and Mombasa counties,” said Dr. Keinan.
Harness floodwaters
Plans to begin the construction of the dam were given fresh impetus when the government secured the required funding partly from its revenue and from the World Bank. The Dam site is located across the Mwache River at the Fulugani village in Kinango Sub-County, Kwale.
The million-dollar project entails the construction of an 87.5-meter-tall concrete gravity dyke with the capacity to hold up to 118 million cubic meters of water. The dam will harness the floodwaters from the Mwache River basin in Kinango Sub County and help tackle persistent water shortages in the coastal region.
October 2021
Mwache Multipurpose Dam construction to begin in November
The construction of the Mwache Multipurpose Dam, whose contract was signed in August 2018 and delayed for several years as the constructor awaited the government to finalize the land compensation exercise is set to begin next month (November 2021).
Also Read: Rehabilitation of Mwache Multipurpose Dam in Kwale, Kenya gathers pace
This was announced by Joseph Irungu, the Permanent Secretary (PS) for Water in the Ministry of Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation adding that the national government is working relentlessly to see to it that all issues that have stalled the project including land compensation are finalized before the 1st of November 2021.
“The national government has sent money to the National Land Commission to finalize the compensation exercise that we expect to be finalized soon so that we can hand over the site to the contractor to commence the construction works,” explained PS Irungu.
Reportedly, Coast Development Authority (CDA) has completed activities around the project site such as tree planting, terracing, contour plowing, rock terracing, gabion construction, and marking and pegging.
November 2020
Rehabilitation of Mwache Multipurpose Dam in Kwale, Kenya gathers pace
The rehabilitation works on the Mwache Multipurpose Dam project in Kwale County, Kenya, is gathering pace with the much-awaited construction works expected to begin in March next year.
According to Dr. Mohamed Keinan, the Managing Director (MD) of Coast Development Authority (CDA), which is spearheading the rehabilitation exercise, they are currently increasing the forest cover for the entire Mwache catchment area that stretches from Taita Taveta County to Kwale County.
The Mwache catchment management is being implemented by the CDA Project Implementation Unit (CDA PIU) in partnership with the Water Resources Authority (WRA), Water Resource Users Associations (WRUAs), Kwale County Government, the Kenya Forestry Service (KFS), the Kenya Forest Research Institute (KeFRI) and the local community.
Other ongoing activities include tree planting, terracing, contour plowing, rock terracing, gabion construction, and riparian marking and pegging to allow for the regeneration of natural vegetation.
The rehabilitation works on the dam site began in earnest in 2017 under the aegis of the Coast Water Security and climate change resilience project while the mega-dam project was first conceptualized by CDA in 1995 but plans to begin construction were hampered due to a lack of funding.
The rebirth of the construction plans of the Mwache Multipurpose Dam
Dr. Keinan said that the plans to begin the construction of the dam were given fresh impetus when the government secured the required funding partly from its revenue and from the World Bank.
The over US$ 183M project entails the construction of an 87.5-meter-tall concrete gravity dyke with the capacity to hold up to 118 million cubic meters of water. The dam will harness the floodwaters from the Mwache River basin in Kinango Sub County and help tackle persistent water shortages in the coastal region.
When complete the Mwache Multipurpose Dam is expected to put 2,600 hectares of land under irrigation in Kwale County, contributing to food security and economic growth, prosperity, and poverty alleviation in the region.
CDA is the executing agency of rehabilitation works while the Ministry of Water, through the Project Management Unit (PMU), is the overall implementing agency.
Jan 2022
Mwache Multipurpose Dam in Kenya: Issues That Held Back the Project Resolved
Sicily Kariuki, the Cabinet Secretary for Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation in Kenya has announced that the issues that held back the start of construction of the Mwache Dam, across the Mwache River at the Fulugani village in Kinango Sub-County, Kwale, have been resolved.
These issues include compensation issues between landowners and the government, the relocation of pipelines, Mwache Bridge, Nunguni ECDE Centers, Fulugani Primary School, and the re-routing of roads from the project site.
“I am happy to announce that we have fully resolved the issues that held back the implementation of the Mwache Dam project, and we expect the construction works to commence in February, starting with a groundbreaking ceremony on the 15th day of that month,” said Ms. Kariuki.
The main issue that held back the project
The land compensation issue has been the main problem that has hindered the start of the Mwache Dam project. Kenya received a total of Ksh 15 million, a tranche of an Sh20 billion deal signed with the World Bank Group in 2015, as part of the Paris Pact Flagship Project that seeks to build resilient water systems in global cities, for the start of the implementation of the project.
The project failed to take off however due to disagreements between local leaders and national government officials over the compensation terms for landowners. A section of leaders complained about low compensation rates and vowed to stop the project until each landowner is paid a minimum of Sh1 million for an acre.
The project took an entirely new turn last year when the government, according to Joseph Irungu, the Permanent Secretary (PS) for Water in the Ministry of Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation, sent money to the National Land Commission to finalize the compensation exercise.
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