Elgeyo-Marakwet County residents to sue Kenya Power

By Edwin Cheserek

RIFT VALLEY; KENYA: Residents of Elgeyo-Marakwet County are preparing to sue Kenya Power over poor service delivery.

They claim that they have been paying bills yet the area does not receive sufficient power supply from the company.

The over 300 businessmen complained that they have suffered huge losses occasioned by power outages and now want to move to court to seek compensation.

"We have been struggling to pay Kenya Power its bills yet it does not consider addressing our problems. It is time the supplier corrects the irregularity and we will ask the court to compel it to do so," said Joseph Kanda, their spokesman.

The businessmen seem to have taken cue from their area, Marakwet East legislator, Kangogo Bowen, who has launched an effort in Parliament to end Kenya Power monopoly in Kenya.

Bowen also moved a motion in Parliament seeking to compel Kenya Power to compensate people who incurred losses as a result of power outages.

“There is a pressing need to compel Kenya Power to compensate Kenyans who encounter fires and loss of property as a result of outages and surges,” he said.

MPs unanimously supported the motion saying the Government should liberalise power distribution to break the monopoly of Kenya Power and encourage efficiency thus reducing cost of power in the near future.

Power consumers in Sambalat, Sangach and Tot trading centres in Marakwet East constituency claim they have gone for a month without electricity are billed for standing charges.

Mr Daniel Kibor, a businessman who operates a pub and hotel, at Tot trading centre said he was sent a bill of Sh 2,000 for the month of June yet the area had power for only three days.

He lamented that power outages and surges have become a norm especially during the onset of heavy rains resulting in fires but Kenya Power never compensates the victims.

Efforts to get comment from Kenya Power North Rift Regional Manager Stanley Ng’etich were fruitless as several calls and text messages to him went unanswered.

But a senior official of the firm in the region who requested not to be named said there was need to upgrade the line to stabilise power supply to the affected areas.

He also said they were experiencing problems with power poles in the area that get damaged saying there was need to replace the tree poles with concrete poles to guard against damages.

"The same problem can be addressed by connecting the line to another line to allow maintenance to be carried out without disrupting the supply of electricity to the residents," he said.

Recently, the Government rejected a proposal by the Kenya Power to increase electricity tariffs and asked the power supplier to find other means of raising revenue.