A site visit at Thwake Multipurpose Dam by ADB officials. Photo by Komu Musango. 
By Andrew Mbuva
The Thwake Multipurpose Dam, currently 94.2% complete, is now expected to take an additional year to finalize—pushing the project timeline close to a decade since its inception.
Water Secretary Samuel Alima attributed the latest delay to global supply chain disruptions caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, which hampered the importation of explosives vital for rock blasting at the dam’s construction site.
“We started with 1,400 workers, but in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, we were forced to reduce them to around 800. Then the Ukraine war came, and we were unable to import the explosives we were using to blast the plastering material,” explained Alima.
Despite the setbacks, the African Development Bank (AfDB), which is financing the project, has reaffirmed its support and commitment to its completion.
Johannes Chirwa, AfDB Director for Water and Sanitation, confirmed the bank’s continued funding, expressing satisfaction with the quality and progress of the work done so far.
“Much as we are concerned that it has taken time, we understand the factors behind the delay. We support the approach taken to ensure that, in the end, we have a robust project that can stand the test of time. We are satisfied with the way it is being done,” said Chirwa.
He emphasized that the bank is more concerned with the dam’s safety and structural integrity than with rushing to complete the project prematurely.
Once complete, the Thwake Dam is expected to be a transformative infrastructure project, supporting water supply, irrigation, hydropower generation, and improved livelihoods in Kenya's arid and semi-arid regions.
