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{
    "id": 1419355,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1419355/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 56,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wamatinga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13582,
        "legal_name": "Wahome Wamatinga",
        "slug": "wahome-wamatinga"
    },
    "content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise pursuant to Standing Order No.56(1)(a) to make a statement relating to a matter to which the Committee is responsible. I wish to make a statement on the overflowing of the dams used by Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) to generate electricity in the country due to the ongoing heavy rains. Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me begin by acknowledging that the rains we have experienced as a country have come with many destructions to properties, injuries and death. As a committee and as the Chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Energy, allow me to tender my condolences to the families of everyone who has lost their loved ones. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on Thursday the 2nd May, 2024, the Committee had the opportunity to overfly the Seven Forks Dams that KenGen uses to generate electricity in the country. What we saw was a very critical situation. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as at six o'clock on 6th May, 2024, Masinga Dam was discharging 850.34 cubic meters of water per second. Kabaru Dam was discharging about 1,076.10 cubic meters of water per second. Gitaru Dam was discharging,1495 cubic meters of water per second, while Kindaruma Dam was discharging 1,174 cubic meters of water per second. Kiambere Dam was discharging 1,316 cubic meters per second. The release of the water is through the cascading manner, meaning that the dam that releases water back to the Tana River is Kiambere Dam, which was discharging 1,316 cubic meters per second. The general perception has been that KenGen, by practice, releases this water from dams back to the Tana River. However, this is not the case. When the mega-dams were built, a control mechanism called a spillway is built together with the dam. Spillways are structures that either form part of the dam or are constructed just besides the dam. They are used when a reservoir is filled past the floodwater safely and in a controlled way over to a dam around it or through it. For the Seven Forks Dam, it is not different. That water overflowed and is being discharged through the spillways. Prior to overflowing of the Seven Forks Dam, the Committee was able to fly to Garissa and see the damage that has been caused by the floodwater from Tana River. We saw villages and houses marooned by water, roads washed away, and we also heard of untold suffering that the people of Garissa have endured. The irony of the whole matter is that the last rain that Garissa had experienced before was on the 25th, April 2024, seven days before, yet, Garissa town was flooded with water. This was water from Tana River, which had broken its banks. Following the consultation with the Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum and the Managing Director (MD) of KenGen, a temporary measure to mitigate the situation would be to raise the wall of Masinga Dam by one meter. This would significantly delay the overflowing of water downstream. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}