State Department for Irrigation Floats 27 Tenders for Water Infrastructure Projects

The State Department for Irrigation has issued a formal tender notice inviting qualified bidders to compete for a package of water and irrigation infrastructure works.

The notice lists 27 separate tenders distributed across 12 counties. They range from full irrigation schemes to community earth dams, water pans, boreholes and two specialist consultancies.

Three of the larger schemes carry Ksh5 million tender security. These include the Karima Kabutu Irrigation Project in Nyeri, Nyamaji Phase 2 Irrigation Project in Homa Bay and Subego Irrigation Project in Nyandarua.

Smaller community interventions appear in Mandera, Wajir, Nandi and Uasin Gishu. Security for these sits at Ksh200,000 or Ksh600,000. Examples cover water pans at schools and primary school irrigation boreholes.

A noticeable cluster of earth dam and water pan projects is concentrated in Machakos, Kitui and Makueni counties. Most of these are reserved for AGPO categories targeting women, youth and persons with disabilities.

Two consultancy tenders in Tana River seek services for community liaison and technical advisory support on the expansion and commercialisation of the Bura Irrigation Scheme.

Eligibility is marked “Open” for the majority of the works. The reserved tenders require bidders to meet specific AGPO registration and documentation rules. All tenders reference the use of tender securing declaration forms or cash/bank guarantees as applicable.

The department has set a clear participation limit. No firm may tender for more than two projects. Any bidder that exceeds this threshold faces automatic disqualification.

Tender documents are available electronically and free of charge through the government e-procurement portal at egp.go.ke. Completed bids must be lodged via the same system before the deadline.

The closing and opening date is fixed for 15 June 2026 at 11.00 a.m. Bids will be opened electronically immediately after the cut-off.

These tenders fall directly under the department’s mandate for water harvesting, storage for irrigation, and the management of irrigation schemes and infrastructure. The physical works will involve excavation, dam and pan construction, borehole drilling, and associated civil works for scheme development.

The geographic spread takes in both high-rainfall areas and arid and semi-arid counties. Community-level projects aim to improve water access for smallholder farming and local institutions such as schools.

Reserved categories for special interest groups are intended to broaden participation in public works procurement. Lower security requirements on these tenders reflect efforts to make opportunities more accessible to qualifying entities.

The Bura Irrigation Scheme consultancies focus on stakeholder engagement and technical support for one of Kenya’s longstanding large-scale irrigation areas. Successful firms will assist with expansion planning and moves toward commercial operations.

Bidders are expected to study the detailed technical specifications, bills of quantities and eligibility conditions contained in the documents. All submissions remain strictly electronic in line with current government procurement policy.

The notice carries the Republic of Kenya coat of arms and is issued under the authority of the State Department for Irrigation. It references the functions outlined in Executive Order 01/2023.

With the tender window now open, contractors, engineering firms, drilling specialists and AGPO-registered groups have just under two weeks to prepare and submit their bids through the designated portal.