Stalled Muoni Dam rehabilitation leaves Kathiani residents in water crisis

The Muoni Dam in Kathiani, once a reliable lifeline for thousands of households in Machakos County, has succumbed to heavy siltation and administrative neglect. Efforts to rehabilitate the site have stalled, leaving the local community to grapple with a deepening water crisis despite repeated official pledges to restore the facility.

According to a report by Benson Matheka, the dam is now a shadow of its former self. Silt has filled a significant portion of the reservoir, drastically reducing its holding capacity and rendering the existing treatment works less effective. For the people of Kathiani, the failure to address these structural issues means that tap water is often unavailable, forcing many to trek long distances to find alternative sources.

The project history reveals a pattern of persistent funding gaps. Records from the Kathiani Water and Sanitation Company (KAWASCO) indicate that most of the water infrastructure in the area was installed between 1984 and 1987. Having far outlived its intended 20-year design life, the system suffers from frequent pipe bursts and high maintenance costs. Proposals for de-silting and increasing the dam embankment by two meters have been submitted to various bodies, including the Water Trust Fund and the World Bank, but substantive funding remains elusive.

The residents expressed frustration, noting that the dam was supposed to be a priority for the regional government. Instead, the facility has been neglected, allowing vegetation to take over the embankment and silt to choke the intake points. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the terrain in Kathiani is steep and rocky, making the installation and repair of distribution pipes both difficult and expensive.

The delay comes at a time when the national government under President Ruto has emphasized the construction of mega-dams to address food security and water scarcity. While the State Department for Irrigation has announced plans for six large-scale dams across the country starting in 2026, smaller existing projects like Muoni appear to have been sidelined. This shift in focus toward new mega-projects has left communities dependent on older, failing infrastructure feeling abandoned.

In late 2025, the County Government of Machakos issued a tender for the proposed de-silting of the Muoni Earth Dam. However, visible progress on the ground has been minimal, and residents claim that the promised rehabilitation has yet to yield tangible results. The lack of activity at the site has led to accusations of mismanagement and a lack of accountability from both county and national water authorities.

As the silt continues to accumulate, the cost of eventually restoring the dam rises. Engineers warn that if the reservoir is not cleared soon, the entire system may face total failure, which would necessitate a much more expensive full-scale reconstruction. For now, the people of Kathiani continue to wait for the government to move beyond procurement papers and begin the actual work of restoring their water supply.