Energy CS Davis Chirchir Clarifies Reason Behind Nationwide Blackout
On Monday, Davis Chirchir, the Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary, disclosed that the extensive power outage experienced nationwide on Sunday evening was due to an excessive load on the Kisumu-Muhoroni transmission line.
Addressing reporters at a press briefing, the Chief Spokesperson affirmed that the excessive load led to the power lines sagging, leading to the blackout.
CS Chirchir additionally disclosed that Kenya had borrowed money from South Korea and issued a tender for building a fresh electrical transmission line in Western Kenya.
“We are building an alternative line to support the west of Kenya, through Narok- Bomet- Awendo to remove the constraint. We are ready to start and we are getting funding from South Korea and the Africa Development Bank,” he added
The Ministry emphasized that inadequate water supply for power generation and limited investments in network infrastructure development are two primary obstacles facing electricity production.
“We know the problem. We learnt it was an overload and we felt good because we can fix that problem very quickly unlike when it is a hit. ” CS Chirchir stated.
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Chirchir reassured Kenyans that the ministry was actively addressing the frequent occurrences, describing them as disgraceful.
“We are aware that there was a power blackout yesterday, and the question we are now asking is, why so frequently? It is a challenge we are ashamed of as a country, and we must address it.”
“It’s bound to happen again, but we will look at serious maintenance,” he added.
In the last three months, the nation has encountered three widespread power failures, which Kenya Power has described as a disruption in the system.
“We have lost electricity supply to various parts of the country due to a suspected fault affecting the power system,” a statement from the power utility firm read.
The outage on Sunday had an impact on multiple industries within the country, causing disruptions at both the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and the Eldoret Airport due to the failure of backup generators to initiate.
Energy CS Davis Chirchir Clarifies Reason Behind Nationwide Blackout
