National Assembly summons CS Chirchir, Kenya Power CEO over nationwide power outage

 

The Energy Committee of the National Assembly has today summoned Energy Cabinet Secretary (CS) Davis Chirchir and Kenya Power CEO Joseph Siror over the nationwide power outage witnessed on Friday, August 25, 2023.

In a press release shared by the committee's secretariat on Saturday, August 26, 2023, the parliament requested the two officials to appear before the House's Committee on Energy on Thursday next week to give a comprehensive report of what led to the outage.

The committee chaired by Mwala Member of Parliament (MP) Vincent Musyoka, also expressed disappointment with how the incident affected the country's main airport, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and termed the incident as embarrassing.

The committee subsequently noted that the duo must present a compelling and detailed report.

"The chairman has directed that we summon CS Energy together with the CEO KPLC on Thursday to explain the cause of the current nationwide blackout which has paralysed the nation, including the International Airport," the communication reads in part.

In the same breath, Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen on Saturday met with the JKIA management to announce decisions to avert similar cases in the future.

The CS, through a statement shared, regretted that the incident at the JKIA was inexcusable and reiterated that his ministry would take action.

"I am really sorry for what has happened at JKIA with the blackout. There is no excuse worth reporting, and there is no reason why our airport is in darkness. I will be announcing the decision we will make tomorrow at 9 am at JKIA after a meeting with the leadership of the airport. Once again, I am sorry," he said in a statement.

The power outage witnessed across the country paralysed activities. Kenya Power quickly addressed the matter and attributed the power outage to a system disturbance.

"At 2145hrs, we experienced a system disturbance leading to the loss of bulk power supply to various parts of the country. We are working in collaboration with teams from all involved sector partners to facilitate the speedy restoration of power supply in the shortest time possible," the utility company wrote.   BY K24 NEWS