The Sh45 billion Mwache Multipurpose Dam in Kwale County is 94 per cent complete, officials said during an inspection tour led by Water, Sanitation and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Eric Mugaa, raising hopes of relief for Mombasa residents who have lived with chronic water shortages for years.

But the CS cautioned that the dam on its own will not end the Coast's water problems. The treatment plant and the pipelines that will carry water to homes in Mombasa and Kwale still have to be completed, and money for some of them has not yet been secured.

"Any delay means the people of Mombasa and the surrounding areas will continue to feel the pressure of water shortages," Mugaa said, according to the Kenya News Agency report carried by The Star.

A dam built for 1.6 million people

The project, in Kinango Sub-County, is a roller-compacted concrete gravity dam standing 84 metres high, with a crest about 530 metres long. Officials say it will hold up to 136 billion litres and produce about 186 million litres of treated water a day.

  • Cost: about Sh45 billion
  • Height: 84 metres
  • Storage: up to 136 billion litres
  • Treated water: about 186 million litres a day
  • Beneficiaries: more than 1.6 million people, according to the CS

The dam is also meant to support irrigation in Kwale and help the region cope with erratic rainfall. It is being built under the Coast Region Water Security and Climate Resilience Project, with backing from the World Bank, the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Pipelines are the next hurdle

Mugaa said the government has signed contracts for the water treatment plant and the South Mainland Pipeline, which will serve areas including Likoni, and that a financing agreement was being prepared to speed up the remaining works. Funding is still being sought for two more pipelines needed to spread the water across the region.

Coast Water Works Development Agency chairman Jimmy Kahindi said priority was being given to the main dam, two check dams, the treatment plant and the distribution network.

The touring team included Water PS Samuel Alima, French Ambassador Wadid Benaabou, EIB Director General Andrew McDowell, African Development Bank Kenya director Anne-Gaël Chapuis and CWWDA chief executive Hamoud Mguza. Benaabou said the project would serve more than a million people.

Years of delays

Mwache was first planned more than a decade ago and has faced delays over funding, cost increases and compensation of families who had to move to make way for the reservoir. In August, Mugaa put progress at about 90 per cent, People Daily reported, while an earlier update to the Senate in June had put it at 86 per cent with civil works expected to end around September.

Mombasa currently gets only a fraction of its daily water demand, and many residents depend on vendors and boreholes. Mugaa described the dam as "a transformative asset" that would unlock growth and improve livelihoods once the full system is running.

Photos: People Daily (file); KNA/The Star. Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.