Residents from Gatanga, Murang'a County on Monday, May 20, took to the streets to protest the county's plan to switch from Kenya Power to solar panels at the local market, affecting the pumping of water from public boreholes.
The residents revealed that the county had announced plans to switch to solar panels to power major facilities completely and this would see the devolved unit transition from relying on Kenya Power.
However, the locals noted that this change would derail and slow down their businesses arguing that solar energy is nowhere near as efficient.
Additionally, the residents expressed concerns about the equipment being stolen or damaged, which they argued would lead to frequent power outages or huge losses.
They however suggested that the county should not completely do away with Kenya Power but should use the two sources of power as complementary sources.
"We are not fully opposed to the idea of using solar panels but let's use it as a backup plan," one of the residents remarked.
This reaction comes after Governor Irungu Kang'ata announced the plan to cut down the electricity cost. He emphasised that borehole solarisation will be conducted across the entire county.
On Friday, Kang'ata shared progress on the project in Kigumo Constitutency adding, " This will save the county and community huge KPLC bills".
Some of the areas where this project has been implemented include Kabati, Kenol, Kandara, Mumbu, Turuturum Gakindu, Ngelelye, Kigio Gatanga, Kagongo and Kaigwa Gaturi Kiharu.
The County boss further urged the residents to embrace these new changes since they not only save money but also help conserve the environment by using green energy.
Notably, electricity costs account for a huge chunk of county governments' bills. Murang'a has in the past owed Kenya Power over Ksh23.7 million.
According to a draft Budget Policy Statement for 2024 from the National Treasury, in 2023, all 47 counties owed Kenya Power Ksh3.49 billion with Nairobi County accounting for 62.17 per cent of the amount.
