Makueni County Commissioner joins members of Thwake Dam NPSC, lauds progress and promises State support

Wote, Makueni, Wednesday, September 28, 2022
The State will ensure smooth implementation and completion of Thwake Multipurpose Water Development Program through continuous collaboration between the county government, the local administration and key stakeholders.
Speaking on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, the new Makueni County Commissioner Ms. Beverly Opwora, assured that national government will support the implementation and completion of the life-changing project being funded by the Government of Kenya and the African Development Bank (AfDB) and being implemented by the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation.
“There is goodwill from the community around and they are looking forward to the completion of this project. My office will collaborate with the county government and other stakeholders so that we strategize on ways to tackle the emerging challenges and issues. We are focused as a national government to ensure completion of this first phase and embark on other subsequent phases. This project will change millions of lives and the State is seeing it as an anchor to the reduction of poverty, creation of jobs, a pillar to socio-economic improvement of locals around,” she said.
Ms. Opwora made the remarks during a courtesy call on her by a section of members of Thwake Dam National Program Steering Committee (NPSC) of which she is also a member, before joining the team for an extensive tour of the project.
Thwake NPSC comprises members from key stakeholder ministries and state agencies tasked with overseeing and supporting its implementation and attainment of its goals.
They include representatives from the National Treasury and Planning, Ministry of Information and Technology, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Health, National Construction Authority, Water Resources Authority, National Environmental Management Authority, Tanathi Water Services Board, the Makueni County Commissioner and the Program Implementation Team (PIT).

The administrator also commended the NPSC for steering the program and embracing synergy and teamwork since its inception.
Speaking earlier during the courtesy visit, the Thwake Dam Program Implementation Team (PIT) Coordinator Eng. David Onyango, thanked the office of the Makueni County Commissioner for ensuring smooth implementation of the project.
“Madam, your predecessors contributed to the successful implementation of this project and as NPSC, we appreciate the support. Issues of compensation of Project Affected Persons (PAPs) have been steered seamlessly, thanks to the former commissioners. We are happy most of the PAPs have now settled and we look forward to continuous working relationship with your office,” said Eng. Onyango who is also the NPSC Secretary while accompanied by a section of NPSC members during the visit.
The team later made an extensive tour of the dam led by Water Secretary Eng. Samuel Alima, who is also the chairman of the NPSC and his Irrigation counterpart Mr. Aboud Moeva.
Other NPSC members present during the tour and meeting were the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tanathi Water Services Board Eng. Frederick Mwamati, Mr. William Mwangi (Ministry of Energy), Mr. Gamaliel Omondi (Ministry of Health), Eng. Erick Okello (National Construction Authority), Mr. Fred Nyongesa (Water Resources Authority), Ms. Pamela Ongwae (Ministry of Information and Technology), Ms. Caroline Mueni (National Treasury and Planning),
Thwake Multipurpose Water Development Program – a multi-billion program being rolled out by the Government of Kenya (GoK) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) in the Lower Eastern region is being implemented in four phases.

This includes construction of 80.5m high multi-purpose, development of hydropower generating system with an installed capacity of about 20 MW; development of Water Supply, Sanitation & Waste Water Infrastructure to supply estimated 150,000 m3/day of treated water to approximately 1.3 million people and an Irrigation Scheme Development that will irrigate approximately 40,000. The construction of the dam and its associated structures (civil works) is currently under implementation.

Ends