The Energy Cabinet Secretary, Davis Chirchir, and Kenya Power CEO, Joseph Siror, have been summoned by the National Assembly Committee on Energy. They are expected to appear before the committee on Thursday, August 31 to provide explanations regarding the countrywide power outage that took place last Friday.
Under the leadership of Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka, the Energy Committee wants the two to give a detailed explanation of the circumstances that precipitated the recent power outage, which had repercussions across multiple regions, including the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
The summons follows a statement issued by Kenya Power, in which they clarified that they had to restore Uganda’s interconnector to bolster the efforts aimed at restoring power supply across the nation.
The power distributor explained that they resorted to utilizing electricity from the Seven Forks Hydro power stations to initiate the process of restoration while awaiting the reinstatement of power from Uganda.
Furthermore, Kenya Power clarified that the electricity generated by the Seven Forks Hydro power stations requires more time for the restoration process compared to the faster option of electricity imported from Uganda (UETCL). However, due to its unavailability at that particular time, they opted for the former solution.
Kenya has experienced three nationwide blackouts between January 11, 2022, and August 25, 2023.
