An internal audit conducted by the Kenya Power technical team has revealed that employees of the organization have been reporting fake numbers in an attempt to reach the Jubilee government's target of 1 Million new connections before the General Eelection.
According to the audit, 1 Million of the 3.6 Million new connections that have been previously reported could be fake or have never been topped up.
The audit further revealed that Kenya Power staff have been activating meters and passing them as new connections even when they are not installed on any house.
In an email seen by the Standard, Mr Charles Cheruiyot, the General Manager Internal Audit at Kenya Power, informed the top management that the vice was still on, as late as last week when President Uhuru Kenyatta made his State of the Nation address in which he listed electricity connections as one of his administration’s top achievements.
“For the last four days our technical team has been reviewing connectivity report by calling our newly connected customers to confirm that that they were actually connected as shown in the system. Some customers confirmed that the meters were left with them by our staff/contractors to get their own electricians to fix them. Mr Cheruiyot wrote.
Mr Cheruiyot indicated that they had visited a customer in Parklands late last week and found out that the customer had 193 new prepaid meters issued between January and February 2017. The meters had not been installed but were all activated in the system.
Speaking to the local daily, Kenya Power acknowledged that the fraud had been ongoing and vowed to take disciplinary action against staff or contractors found culpable.
“Procedurally, meter installations are conducted by KPLC technicians or authorised contractors only. The company will take disciplinary measures against members of staff or contractors found to have abetted such malpractices as activating meters before installation.” Kenya Power emphasized.
If not amicably addressed, the revelation could sabotage the Sh50 Billion Last Mile project that is largely funded by foreign governments.
