Multimillion solar project heralds new beginning for Garissa residents

A cross section of the 200,000 solar panels at Garissa Solar power plant which is set to produce 55megawatts of electricity. The government is putting up the Sh13.5 billion plant in Garissa to improve on the power deficit in the country. [Philip Muasya, Standard]

About 500 metres from Raya market in Garissa County, men and machines run in a frenzied but calculated mode, trying to put up final touches in a mega solar project billed as the biggest in East and Central Africa.

On one side of the compound, an excavator scoops a heap of soil and feeds it onto a waiting motor wagon, which then speeds off.