Let cheaper electricity light up rural homes

While commissioning the national schools electrification and the Last Mile Connectivity projects in Machakos County on Wednesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that Kenya Power had slashed the cost of electricity connection to the national grid from Sh35,000 to Sh15,000. That is a reduction of close to 50 per cent.

It was sweet news to millions of Kenyans in rural areas who only dreamt about having electricity, with little hope of seeing the light — so to speak — in their lifetime. The reduction in connection fees is part of the government’s strategy to light up 70 per cent of Kenyan homesteads by 2018.