The managing director of the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) Alex Gitari has been dismissed over Friday night’s blackout at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
Kenya’s main airport and the gateway to East Africa was without power for close to an hour leaving passengers stranded from 10pm last night.
JKIA has three power generators which are supposed to kick in immediately in the case of a black out. The generators are connected in such a way that if the first one fails, the second one powers itself automatically.
That all the three failed last night has raised serious questions about the security of JKIA.
It is said that board meeting held today morning at KAA’s offices that was attended by Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen resolved to send Gitari home.
He will be replaced in an acting capacity by Henry Mugoye.
Parliament has already summoned CS Chirchir to explain how the whole country had a blackout last night.
The Energy Committee, chaired by Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka, wants Chirchir to issue a comprehensive account of the factors that led to the outage which impacted various areas including the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
“The chairman has directed that we summon the CS Energy together with the CEO KPLC on Thursday to explain the cause of the current nationwide black out which has paralysed the nation, including the International Airport,” a communication from the committee’s secretariat reads in part.
