The National Assembly Energy Committee, led by Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka, has issued a 10-day ultimatum to Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir to furnish them with a comprehensive report on the root cause of last week’s nationwide power blackout.
This directive from Parliament comes in the wake of Chirchir’s appearance before lawmakers as they seek to uncover the circumstances that led to the blackout, which occurred on Friday, August 25, shortly after 9 pm.
The committee’s objective is to determine whether any potential negligence played a role in the outage, which disrupted various businesses and services for over 12 hours.
The Ministry of Energy had consistently attributed the blackout to an issue at the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project (LTWP), a claim that the LTWP management strongly contested.
According to a committee dispatch, “Committee members gave the CS an ultimatum of 10 days to name the person responsible which they said will help avert such occurrences.”
Following this parliamentary directive, the Cabinet Secretary unveiled three preventive measures aimed at preventing a recurrence of such incidents.
These measures include investigating the possibility of upgrading the hydro turbine runners in collaboration with KenGen and advancing small hydro projects based on research studies conducted by KenGen.
Chirchir also emphasized his ministry’s commitment to reviewing operational practices and standards for power agencies, aiming to ensure grid security and power stability.
However, Chirchir pointed out that the options available to his ministry are constrained by existing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), which are currently under scrutiny by the committee.
He noted the need to lift the moratorium on the signing of PPAs to prevent a potential shortfall in generation capacity required to meet growing demand and replace retiring power plants in the medium term.
