Water Cabinet Secretary Eric Mugaa has confirmed that none of the 100 mega dam projects promised by President William Ruto’s administration have been completed so far, nearly two years after the ambitious pledge.
Speaking at a Senate plenary session on Wednesday, Mugaa attributed the delays to acute financial challenges. He explained the government had laid out to execute the majority of the large water projects under public-private partnerships (PPPs), but the model has not impressed investors due to low returns.
“Most of the large dams were scheduled to be implemented under public-private partnerships. Unfortunately, investments in water have not been very lucrative; our tariffs do not cover the costs,” he said.
The CS emphasized that water infrastructure is capital-intensive, making it a less appealing venture for private investors. Despite this, he assured lawmakers that a number of large dams including Bucha, Fauci, and Um are under construction, although none have yet been completed.
“For large dams, we have not completed any of them,” Mugaa told the Senate.
President Ruto had pledged to build 100 large dams as part of his broader agenda to shift Kenya’s agriculture from rain-fed to irrigation-based to increase food production and climate change adaptability.
To give more clarification on the progress so far, Mugaa committed to give an extensive list of small dams that have made considerable progress and have the possibility of being finished before the big ones.
