Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen is on Saturday scheduled to deliver a national address in response to the Friday night nationwide blackout that affected the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
Kenya plunged into total darkness in what Kenya Power attributed to a “system disturbance” that subsequently resulted in the “loss of bulk power supply to various parts of the country.”
During the scheduled press briefing at the Kenya Airports Authority headquarters, Murkomen is expected to outline the challenges facing the airport and unveil the next steps to be taken.
The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) revealed that the airport’s power outage was due to the failure of one of its generators to start.
After the unprecedented scenario at Kenya’s largest international airport, which left passengers stranded, Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen issued an apology.
“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,” he said in a tweet.
Kenya Power restored power at the airport and in various regions across the country after a duration of almost five hours.
As of Saturday, certain areas including Nairobi continued to experience power outages, despite assurances from the utility firm that they were tirelessly working to address the problem.
“We are working to restore normalcy in all other areas as soon as possible,” read in part the Kenya Power statement. BY CAPITAL NEWS