Meet Eric Mugaa, the engineer-turned-CS behind hands-on project inspections

Water, Sanitation and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Eric Mugaa has increasingly drawn attention for his hand-on approach when he arrives at a government project site for inspections.

One of inspection tours at the Oyugis Water Supply Project in Homa Bay County on August 19, 2026, brought that approach into the spotlight after CS Mugaa described the facility as “dead” and questioned engineers over the condition of its sand filters.

During the inspection alongside Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga, the CS said the filters had become clogged and had not been backwashed or had their sand replaced since the facility was commissioned.

“This is clogged. It can't filter anything,” Mugaa told engineers at the site.

He also questioned the management of chemicals during periods of high turbidity and said water could be filtered at one point and become contaminated again further along the system.

Mugaa subsequently advised Wanga to bring in an experienced operator and recommended that a qualified engineer spend at least a week at the facility training the staff.

The inspection was conducted during the rollout of the Oyugis and Kendu Bay Last Mile Connectivity programme under the Intergovernmental Coordination Framework for water service delivery.

Wanga also questioned her technical team over the condition of the facility and warned that unresolved problems could affect the supply of 12 million litres of water and create tensions over access to the resource.

The incident was one of several public inspections in which CS Mugaa has directly questioned contractors, engineers and project officials over the execution of government-funded infrastructure.

This has been approach since he joined Cabinet in 2024 having worked as an engineer for close to a decade.

Mugaa was born in 1992, in Athi, Igembe South, Meru County, and attended St John’s Boarding Primary School in Maua, where he scored 431 marks in his KCPE examinations in 2005, before joining Lenana School in Nairobi.

Between 2010 and 2011, he worked as a volunteer teacher at Kirindine Day Secondary School in Meru County.

He later joined the University of Nairobi, where he studied for a Bachelor of Science in Civil and Construction Engineering between 2011 and 2016 and graduated with First Class Honours.

He subsequently pursued a Master of Science in Civil Engineering, specialising in Water Resources, at the University of Nairobi between 2018 and 2022.

His professional profile includes experience as an assistant project engineer and design engineer.

Mugaa also worked with Mangat I.B. Patel Consulting Engineers and at Kilifi Mariakani Water and Sewerage Company, where he was involved in water and sewerage-related projects.

He is registered as a professional engineer with the Engineers Board of Kenya and is a corporate member of the Institution of Engineers of Kenya.

His listed technical skills include water and wastewater design, AutoCAD Civil 3D, EPANET and KY PIPE hydraulic modelling software, as well as water resource management.

On July 19, 2024, President William Ruto nominated Mugaa to serve as Cabinet Secretary for Water, Sanitation and Irrigation following a reorganisation of his Cabinet.

At 32, Mugaa was the youngest member of the new Cabinet. During his parliamentary vetting on August 2, 2024, he declared a net worth of Sh31 million and said he did not own a personal vehicle, explaining that he had opted to invest rather than take on liabilities.

He was subsequently approved and sworn into office on August 8, 2024.

Upon assuming office, Mugaa signed a second-generation Ministerial Performance Contract with President Ruto, with targets including expansion of irrigation, increased sewerage connections and reduction of unaccounted-for water.

Since taking charge of the ministry, CS Mugaa has regularly used project inspections to examine progress and question those responsible for implementation.

In June 2025, during an inspection tour in Meru County, he criticised contractors over delays affecting projects including the Maua Sewerage Project and Kamburu-Mbeu Irrigation Scheme, arguing that projects should progress where government payments had been made.

In July 2026, another widely circulated video showed Mugaa confronting a contractor over the progress of an infrastructure project.

He questioned the timelines being presented to him and told the contractor, “Stop lying to me,” while demanding value for money.

His inspections have also involved scrutiny of major water and dam projects and questions over the use of billions of shillings allocated to public infrastructure.