Infrastructure

Thwake Dam Builder Wins Rare Praise From AfDB

China Ghezouba Company is set to complete work in June 2022.

Updated on

September 16, 2021

The multi-billion-shilling Thwake Dam project on the border of Kitui and Makueni has won a rare public compliment from its co-financier who is quite impressed with the progress.

The African Development Bank (AfDB), which is partly financing the project, described the progress as tremendous – promising to inject more funds into the development.

“As a bank, we are impressed with the ongoing work at the dam,” AfDB East Africa executive director Amos Cheptoo said on Monday during a tour of the project.

“Once the dam construction is completed in June 2022, the bank will work with (the government) to ensure faster acceleration of the remaining three phases,” he added.

The contractor, China Ghezouba Company, has undertaken major works on site, including establishing two giant tunnels to divert Athi River flow for excavation works at the river bed.

The company earlier said the project, which is now 60% complete, would be way ahead were it not for the reduction of workers on site to 700 from 1,200 due to the pandemic.

“We will compensate for time lost during this period of the pandemic…By the end of this year, we will have completed the tunnels,” Apopo Lentana, a CGC official said in an interview.

The two tunnels will be used as substitute waterways where Athi River will change course before later joining the original path to the Indian Ocean.

“Once the river is diverted, there will be the building of rock-filled dam wall that will be 87 meters high, then making of main and minor spillways for excess water flow,” Lentana said.

Jointly funded by the Government of Kenya and the African Development Bank (AfBD), the project will be implemented in four phases at Sh81.89 billion.

Phase one involves building an 87m high dam wall with 688 million cubic metre storage capacity, and preliminary works for the implementation of the subsequent phases.

This segment will cost Sh42.4 billion.

Phase two will involve the installation of a hydropower generation plant while phase three comprises the installation of water supply, sanitation, and wastewater infrastructure.

Phase four of the Thwake Dam project will involve setting up the irrigation component.

Through budgetary allocations to the respective ministry, the government will invest Sh59.95 billion into the project while AfBD will fork out Sh21.94 billion.

Thwake Dam will provide water for domestic, irrigation, hydropower as well as industrial activities in the beneficiary counties.

It will mainly serve Makueni County as well as certain parts of Kitui County.

In March 2019, then Auditor-General Edward Ouko warned that the project could stall as the State had yet to secure funding for the last three phases of the project.

He said that although the AfDB and the government had approved Sh42 billion in funding for phase one, the remaining phases with a budget of Sh40 billion were yet to be planned for.

Since 2013, Kenya has either signed or planned to sign deals valued at more than Sh700 billion for the construction of mega dams in various parts of the country.

The government is building at least five mega-dams at a cost of more than Sh156bn in deals that were signed after the Jubilee administration took over leadership in 2013.

These include Thwake Dam; Itare Dam in Nakuru – at Sh28bn; Karimenu Dam in Gatundu – at Sh24bn; Thiba Dam in Kirinyaga – at Sh16bn; and Siyoi Dam in West Pokot – at Sh5bn.

The government has also signed deals for the construction of the Sh20bn Bosto Dam in Bomet, the Sh17bn Ruiru II dam in Kiambu, and the Sh20bn Mwache Dam in Kwale County.