Kenya Power seeks pole suppliers

Kenya Power needs 195,299 wooden poles to successfully complete the second phase of the Last Mile Connectivity Project (LMCP).

Kenya Power Managing Director Ben Chumo said the power supplier also needs 44,701 more concrete poles for the project. The firm is looking for reliable suppliers of the poles. “Implementation of this phase is expected to start late this year. We aim to connect over a million new customers every year going forward in order to achieve our targets,” Dr Chumo said, confirming the company’s demand for the poles will rise in the short run.

Under the LMCP, Kenya Power management has announced it will procure prepaid meters, cables, conductors and 1,000 transformers for grid extension as per an agreement it signed with the World Bank on procurement guidelines.

Chumo said the first phase of LMCP is ongoing, with contractors already mobilised and on the ground. LMCP is financed by the Government and the African Development Bank (ADB) at a cost of Sh13.5 billion. The project targets 314,000 households.

“This project is being implemented in all the 47 counties by 10 contractors. The first phase of the project, earmarked for completion by June 2017, is projected to use a total of 319,203 poles,” Chumo said.

Last year, Kenya Power procured 377,000 poles locally, both wooden and concrete after President Uhuru called on Kenyan companies to support the “Buy Kenya Build Kenya Initiative” mantra.

The company has spent Sh7.9 billion in the last three years on poles. “We are now buying all our poles locally, unlike in the past where we used to import them from as far as Brazil, Congo and south Africa,” Chumo said. “Currently we have a total of 35 manufacturers and suppliers,” he added.