Tokwe Mukosi Dam is located at the confluence of the Tokwe and Mukosi rivers, and the dam straddles the boundary of Chivi and Masvingo South districts in the Masvingo Province. It is 75km south of Masvingo and access to the site is via Ngundu- Triangle Road. From Ngundu, one travels about 16 km towards Triangle and then turns left to reach the dam site about 12km away.

With a height of 89,2m and storage of 1,8 billion cubic metres of water, it is the highest dam wall and the largest inland water body in Zimbabwe. The main purpose of the dam is for irrigation and hydro-power generation. Tokwe Mukosi
Dam is designed as a rock fill dam with an upstream concrete face, the first dam of this type -in Zimbabwe. Spillway arrangements comprise of two drop inlet structures, one on each bank, with six meter diameter discharge tunnels all excavated into the rock of the abutments. The outlet works consist of an upstream intake structure and a six meter diameter pressure tunnel which is connected to a gate shaft immediately downstream of the crest of the dam.
From the gate shaft, two by two meter diameter steel pipes lead through a dry tunnel to the valve house downstream of the dam. The outlet tunnel served as a diversion tunnel during construction of the dam. There is an upstream coffer—dam which was designed as a masonry arch structure 15 meter high. There are five Saddle Dams situated on the right bank. The dams are zoned earth-fill structures with a total embankment volume of 1 100 000m3. On the fifth saddle dam, an auxiliary spillway is provided for. Hydro-electric power generating facilities shall be installed on the dam with a maximum generating capacity of 15MW.

With a height of 89,2m and storage of 1,8 billion cubic metres of water, it is the highest and the largest inland water body in Zimbabwe. The main purpose of the dam is for irrigation and hydro-power generation. Tokwe Mukosi
Dam is designed as a rock fill dam with an upstream concrete face, the first dam of this type -in Zimbabwe. Spillway arrangements comprise of two drop inlet structures, one on each bank, with six meter diameter discharge tunnels all excavated into the rock of the abutments. The outlet works consist of an upstream intake structure and a six meter diameter pressure tunnel which is connected to a gate shaft immediately downstream of the crest of the dam.
From the gate shaft, two by two meter diameter steel pipes lead through a dry tunnel to the valve house downstream of the dam. The outlet tunnel served as a diversion tunnel during construction of the dam. There is an upstream coffer—dam which was designed as a masonry arch structure 15 meter high. There are five Saddle Dams situated on the right bank. The dams are zoned earth-fill structures with a total embankment volume of 1 100 000m3. On the fifth saddle dam, an auxiliary spillway is provided for. Hydro-electric power generating facilities shall be installed on the dam with a maximum generating capacity of 15MW.

Construction period

The contract commenced in April 1998 with a planned construction period of four years stretching from 1998 to 2002. However, works were suspended in 1999 due to shortage of funds. The project then went through start-stop phases from 2001 to 2005. Construction then commenced in May 2011 under the current Addenda with plans to complete the project in November, 2013 and plans to start impounding water in November 2013. Due to funding constraints, the project went through some suspension delays but the Government of Zimbabwe cleared all outstanding arrears to the contractor by 11 October 2016 and in December 2016 and the dam began impounding water during the 2016/2017 rainy season. As at 17 May 2017, the dam was about 72,38 percent full with a capacity of about 1,303 billion cubic metres.

Uses of the Dam

The dam was primarily conceived to provide irrigation water to the southeast Lowveld and particularly to the Tokwe-Runde-Mutirikwi areas.

An estimated 25 000 hectares of irrigated land is envisaged for establishment with the consequential benefits of increased employment and additional agricultural production. The harnessed water for irrigation will enable the expansion of commercial sugar plantations to support irrigation schemes for commercial, A2 and A1 farmers.

The Tokwe Mukosi dam wall was designed with the potential of generating approximately 15 megawatts of power if the peak power facility concept is considered using water released for irrigation.  The power generated will be sold to Zimbabwe Electricity Distribution and Transmission Company (ZEDTC) and also used to power the anticipated projects of fisheries, hotels and lodges as the area is developed into a tourism resort. Uptake agreements may be a negotiated with mining companies like Renco mine which is in the vicinity of the project .

Possibilities Envisioned for The Dam 

• Cage fish farming in the dam,
• Pond fish farming outside the dam,
• Kapenta fisheries.
• Large scale crocodile project.
• The dam can contribute significantly to eco-tourism projects around the reservoir, these include:
• Self-catering chalets,
• Hotel,
• Conference centre and casino
• Boating facilities
• Angling
• Cable car
• Game park
• Museum for the construction of the project

Human effects

A total 3 425 affected families and their belongings were moved from the dam basin and resettled at Chingwizi on a temporary basis. They have since moved from the temporary camp to permanent resettlement plots where each family was allocated four hectares of irrigable land. Compensation amounting to USS9 million is still outstanding for some of the resettled families. There are plans to assist the resettled families with land clearing for them to carry out their agricultural activities. 

The construction of the Tokwe Mukosi is a success story and water is now abundantly available for irrigation development downstream and eco-tourism around the dam.