Kenya Power Cheap Energy Project Faces Hurdles

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Kenya Power engineers carry out repairs at a power sub-station in Mombasa County in 2018
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Kenya Powers faces challenges in ensuring millions of Kenyans access cheaper electricity under the Last Mile Connectivity Project

The project links homes to the national grid under a subsidised rate of Ksh15,000 depending on the proximity to power lines and transformers, down from Ksh 35,000. 

A financial institution which funded the project after it was unveiled by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2015 warned that the project was facing cash constraints. 

The bank, however, did not reveal how much money was needed to finalise the project. Nonetheless, it urged the government to cover the deficit lest the project collapses. 

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President Uhuru Kenyatta switches on power at a house in Kikuyu constituency connected under the Last Mile Connectivity project.
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"As the sum of the contract price has exceeded the total estimated project cost, the Government of Kenya contribution has to be increased or supplementary finance has to be requested to avoid delay on payment to contractors.

“Therefore the government has to increase the counterpart fund or request for supplementary financing to complete the project," the bank said in an audit report.

On November 12, 2020, in his state of the nation address, President Uhuru Kenyatta said that the program crossed the 7.2 million household connections mark.

He added that the country was proceeding according to plan towards the aspiration of 100 per cent universal electricity access by 2022.

"We have also completed a National Geo-Spatial Mapping exercise that has allowed us to catalogue the wealth of our natural resources. 

"It will also enable us to improve the management and use of land, the essential but finite resource we share as a nation," the head of state assured. 

Kenya Power is, however, facing competition from solar energy. In 2020 an increasing number of households and corporates switched to solar energy arguing that the Kenya Power electricity was expensive and unreliable. 

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Deputy President William Ruto switches on power at the home of Subano Aris, a 77-year-old widower in Tente, West Mugirango in Nyamira County
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