Kenya Power officials on Thursday came out to explain why they removed transformers from the Mukuru Estate in Nairobi.
While appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Energy, Kenya Power Managing Director Joseph Siror said that the decision to disconnect power in the area followed a series of losses experienced by the company caused by frequent illegal connections by residents in the area.
This, he said, was reflected by the inconsistencies in the amount made by the company as compared to the amount of power fed into the area each month.
“While comparing the energy sent into the feeder with that billed from the meters in the location increases leading to losses. Increased illegal tappings in the area led to overload on the transformers, leading to the loss of 48 transformers due to failure,” Siror told the committee.
Engineer Siror also told the committee that the company had previously taken several steps to address the issue before power was cut but that did not seem to help the situation as the illegal connections persisted.
Kenya Power had previously deployed Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) to investigate the situation, protect its assets, and support its efforts on the ground level to boost sales.
The CBOs were also supposed to help in the removal of illegal lines, carry out small maintenance works, identify new customers, and assist the company in formally applying for connection, educating customers on pre-paid programs, among other roles.
Despite the efforts, however, Siror said that the irregularities continued leading to Kenya Power making the decisive decision to recover all their transformers in a bid to prevent further losses.
Siror also dismissed corruption allegations raised by area MP Julius Mawathe who had alleged corruption. The lawmaker lobbied his colleagues to summon the Kenya Power top brass over the repossession which he stated left residents in the dark for months.
Mawathe faulted the company for failing to conduct thorough investigations and concluded the company was punishing his constituents.
“It is unfair to punish residents of Mukuru by denying them access to power for this long. Kenya power should move in with speed to address this matter and ensure residents are connected back to the grid,” Mawathe said.
