Paul Mugambi or the blind innovator as he describes himself, spent three days in the dark before realizing that his KPLC tokens had been depleted. This dark moment birthed an idea, K-Macho.
Mugambi is visually impaired and he thought that his area was experiencing a power outage only to realize later that he did not have electricity tokens.
In 2018, he received the Excellence in Making Inclusion Happen Award at the 2018 Chief Minister’s Inclusion awards in Australia for his idea.
K-Macho or Kwa Macho Smart Meter uses voice commands to purchase and load power units. It also alerts the user when their electricity units are depleted.
This innovation is similar to the famous Siri or Google TalkBack which also uses voice commands to help run simple tasks.
“You use word of mouth to make commands to the system. K-Macho buy for me 32 units of power, it will give you the response and you continue with the transaction with only word of mouth,” Mugambi explained.
Mugambi ‘s innovation is pre-installed into smart meter devices to enhance accessibility for the visually impaired. It uses spoken words, vibrations, and any audible feedback to communicate to the user.
He has taken in three individuals to help in technical operations and assist in improving the K-Macho innovation to ease loading tokens for the visually impaired.
In the recently concluded Power Manufacturers, Technology & innovation held between 6th and 8th July 2022 at KICC, Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum Monica Juma stated that Mugambi's innovation is crucial and aligns with the needs of the nation.
“If the energy sector becomes seamlessly integrated with the internet, offering both online and offline services, it will be a game-changer in development,” noted Mugambi.
Mugambi went on to urge investors and the private sectors to join in and finance the innovation to become a reality and fully implement it in the market. He added that this is an unexploited sector that could create jobs for the youth.
David Syengo, Central Rift regional Manager at Kenya Power and Lighting Company(KPLC), noted the organization could use innovations like K-Macho to ensure all inclusion in self-delivery.
"All the devices we have acquired until now lack inclusion, but we continue to look at different innovations similar to K-Macho to ensure our services are accessible. We are not at 100 per cent but we are making progress," Syendo said.
