Construction of Thwake Multipurpose dam project is set to be completed by next year. President Uhuru Kenyatta inspected the works and affirmed they will be done by June.
The dam, located at the confluence of river Thwake and Athi river, is a Vision 2030 flagship project jointly funded by the Government of Kenya and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The project is being implemented in phases. The first phase, involves construction of an 80.5m high multi-purpose dam (688 million cubic meter storage capacity) and associated preliminary works needed to enable implementation of other three phases. Phase Two of the work will involve construction of hydropower and substation development expected to generate at least 20MW of installed capacity.
Safe water
The third phase will involve development of water supply system to treat and distribute up to 150,000 cubic metres of treated water per day to millions of rural inhabitants of three counties and inhabitants of Konza TechnoCity and its environs.
The last stage of the project will see development of irrigation works for up to 40,075 hectares of land (approximately 100,000 acres of land). The dam will also produce 20 megawatts of hydroelectricity which will enhance manufacturing while over 100,000 acres of land will be put under irrigation, creating food security.
The President has ordered Nema to immediately commence the clean-up of the Nairobi river and other rivers upstream to ensure the water that will be fed into the dam will be safe for human consumption.
