Embu MCAs have asked the Water ministry to explain why the construction of four local mega-dams promised in 2013 are yet to begin.
Then Water Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa in 2016 toured Embu and promised to speed up the construction of Ruvingaci, Thambana Thuci and Kamumu dams.
The CS said tenders for the construction of the four dams had already been advertised and work was expected to start in 2017, but nothing has been done.
Kagaari South MCA Robert Ireri now wants the government to provide an update on the status of the three projects that would have cured food insecurity and water shortage in the county.
Ireri wondered why the national government had over Sh60 billion to splurge onthe fraud-riddled Kimwarer and Arror dams, yet had none for the smaller and cheaper Embu projects.
The ward rep said there were water pipes worth around Sh800 million meant to channel water from the non-existent Thuci dam lying idle in his ward.
Speaking during assembly proceedings on Thursday, Ireri said that the current food scarcity dogging Embu residents would have been solved if the government had kept its promise and built the dams.
Deputy speaker Steve Munene blamed MPs from Embu county for being unable to lobby for funds from President Uhuru Kenyatta for projects.
He expressed disappointed that Thiba dam in the neighbouring Kirinyaga county, though planned after the four Embu dams, was almost complete.
Munene called for the allocation of more funds to the counties to enable them to implement projects abandoned by the national government.
“It is unfair for Embu residents to grapple with the recurrent problems of water shortage and inadequate food for more than 20 years, yet funds are available to address the issues,” Munene said.
The Runyenjes Ward representative said that the county only needed political goodwill and intensified lobbying for the construction of the dams.
Majority leader Michael Njeru recognised the acute water shortage being experienced across the county, with major rivers drying up.
He challenged the national government to make real their campaign pledge of constructing the four dams in Embu since the county government’s funds were limited to undertake projects of such scale.
(edited by O. Owino)
