Mvurya tells leaders not to politicise Mwache dam project

Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya has cautioned leaders in the county against misleading residents and politicising the multi-billion Mwache dam project.

The project, funded by the World Bank, will be built across the Mwache River in Kinango Sub-County.

But some of the leaders in the regions have been casting doubt about its implementation.

Kasemeni Ward MCA Anthony Yama said he was surprised to learn that there is a plan to divert all the water from the dam to Mombasa County against the initial design to have the water also supplied to Kwale County.

VILLAGES LEFT OUT

"We recently had a meeting with both county and national government officials deliberating on the project but it has come to my attention that villages surrounding the dam were not considered to benefit from the project," he said, adding that he will not support the implementation of the project.

But Governor Mvurya warned leaders against making utterances that will derail the implementation of the project whose main objective is to curb water shortage.

He said the county government has already written to the Ministry of Water to consider supplying water to villages that had not been considered in the initial design.

INITIAL DESIGN

"The bone of contention is the supply of water to the villages surrounding the dam which had not been considered in the initial design but we have notified the ministry for consideration and implementation," he said.

Mr Mvurya lashed out at the leaders whom he said are out to see the project fail instead of working with the government to make it a success for the benefit of the residents.

"It is wrong for leaders to misinform the residents about the project. If there is anything they don't understand let them ask for clarification before telling lies to residents," he said.

ASSURANCE

The governor assured the residents that once the project is complete, water will be supplied to every part of the county.

He said that, according to the project’s scope as advocated by its leadership, Sh400 million will be used to facilitate infrastructure to supply water from Mwache dam to other areas of Kinango Sub-County.

At least 4,000 families will be displaced by the project and, already, the government has agreed to have the affected people identified in public.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

All meetings for identification of affected people will be through public participation and the residents will be given a chance to identify the affected persons since they know them.

"Once the list is complete, the project team has to again come back to the public for verification. The success of this process will inform the land adjudication process among other processes," said Mvurya.

He added that the county government has already set aside funds to undertake land adjudication once the people and county government are contented with the project.