Kangundo Member of Parliament Fabian Mule has urged the Kenya Kwanza government to use the military in ensuring there is water nationwide by pumping water from Lake Victoria across parts of the country instead of constructing dams and drilling boreholes.
Speaking on Wednesday, February 22 while making his submission during Parliamentary proceedings, the MP who was elected on a Muungano party ticket said the military can handle the pumping of water to various parts of the country.
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“Madam Speaker, on this issue of water, there is no need for construction of dams and drilling of boreholes. It’s high time we stopped this nonsense. We need to cut all the bunches and provide water across the country,” Mule said.
The MP’s submission comes at a time when President William Ruto’s administration its manifesto said it will construct 263 dams across the country.
The Kenya Kwanza government plans to revive the construction of Itare, Arror and Kimwarer dams.
After assuming the Presidency in 2022, the Head of State instructed Water Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome to start implementing the project of building one hundred dams which will be done with the partnership of the private sector.
Ruto said the previous government had planned to construct fifty-seven dams but only succeeded in establishing five due to politics.
“We will be moving a bit fast now and we have a public-private instrument that will support our dam-building efforts and water harvesting programme,” the MP said.
The Ministry also proposed Sh45 billion dam in Murang’a. The dam is projected to supply water to 830,000 people.
The dams are expected to meet the water needs of 640,000 people, irrigate 13,000 acres, and generate 60MW and 20MW of electricity, respectively.