Residents of Muthengera ward in Laikipia County are living in fear as one of the colonial dams is on the verge of collapsing.
According to the locals, Mukurweini dam that was built by the colonial settlers in 1946 has been intact until a local contractor, Eden homes construction limited, cut down some trees while doing a water pumping project in the dam that that led to it loosening its walls.
The dam that lies on approximately 16 acres serves over 4000 people and their livestock. According to the area chief, Charles Ngunjiri, the dam poses a risk at the moment to the residents of Karandi, Tandare and Kianugu locations that have a stream from the dam cutting across the villages.
“This problem was brought by the contractor trying to let his earth mover pass over the dyke. The earth mover was big and he had to cut down the trees that were reinforcing the dykes.
“The contractor also blocked the water exit prompting the spill over water to get an alternative exit. That is when the dam broke part of the dyke for the spillway and since then we have been experiencing some leakages on the dyke and it is getting bigger by day,” said Ngunjiri, the area chief.
Ngunjiri said that the locals tried to reach out to the contractor by phone, he never responded and this prompted the locals to build a bridge for the water exit to control the water level.
He said that if the residents did not step in to do so, there could have been a similar situation to the Solai dam tragedy of 2018 where 48 people from the same village lost their lives due to the Patel dam breaking.
John Kamau Mathai, a senior resident, said that they have never seen this damn sipping from the underground since they settled in this area over 50 years ago.
“I want the government to come to our rescue to avoid a disaster. The only time that the dam was flooded was in 1961. We want the project by this contractor but at the same time we want to avoid a disaster. We also want the survey of this dam; a lot of people have grabbed the dam land.
Waweru kahure, a resident, said that another problem they face is that the dam has been encroached by private farmers thus resulting in silting of the dam.
“Moreover, there is a lot of water hyacinth and it is proving to be a risk to the fish and the fishermen in the village alike. We want the dam to be conserved to serve us and our future generations,” said Kahure
Other parents with school going children said that the dam with its leakage is proving dangerous to their school going children as they have to get up early and take their kids to school as there is no other road connecting the village to the school.
Jane Makeri, the area assistant chief said that the locals were never involved in public participation before the project commenced. She also asked the area Assistant Commissioner to ensure the dam is fenced.
Muthengera Assistant County Commissioner, Maurine Wanjiru, who visited the dam, assured the residents that she has consulted the relevant bodies mandated to ensure that the looming disaster is contained.
She also asked the residents to be cautious while using the dam.
“Prevention is better than cure. As residents ensure that you accompany your children to school because I understand that one dyke of this dam is the only way connecting the location of Muthengera to the schools.
“Ensure that in case of more leakage you warn other villagers. Residents living downstream should be careful when doing their farming because we don’t know when the spillage might strike.
“A committee of the national government is looking for ways to contain the dam spillage,” said the ACC.
The ACC also said that they had involved the County Government, Disaster management and NEMA officials in Nyahururu to avert the looming danger.
The Water Project that caused the leakage is a project undertaken by the Central Rift Valley Water Works under the program of National Water Harvesting and Ground Water Exploration and the contractor is Eden homes construction limited.
