Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir has said that the construction of 4600 kilometres of high-voltage transmission lines between Kapkwen in Bomet and Narok counties is to ease the frequent power blackouts in the country.
Chirchir stated that the power projects between Kapkwen (Bomet) to Chemosit (Kericho) have been completed, while Bomet to Narok and Narok-Olkaria are ongoing as the government has sourced funds from the Korean Government.
Speaking during the dissemination of the Fourth Medium Term Plan (MTP IV) 2023-2027, held at the ACK conference hall in Kericho, CS Chirchir, who was the chief guest, said that Kapkwen to Chemosit power transmission lines have been completed and will stabilise power supply around the country.
The CS noted, “To prevent national outages in the country, the Energy Ministry is forced to switch on and off power in Kericho almost every other day because of the constraints from Mambo Leo in Kisumu to Muhoroni, and Muhoroni to Chemosit.”
“The Bomet-Chemosit line that is constraint, is built to carry 85 megawatts of power, and if we allow power to all the industries in the region, while at the same time lighting homes, it will suck all the power, and to sustain steady power supply, we need up to 150 megawatts to come through that line, which is only dimensioned to carry 85 megawatts,’’ Chirchir added.
The CS explained that a feeder serves about 2000 to 10,000 people during pickup hours, mostly in the evenings.
“Owing to the demand for more power in the line in the evenings, it causes blackouts as the system senses danger and shuts down because of the Chemosit-Muhoroni line, and so occasionally in the evenings, what we do is switch off Kericho, because it takes so much power, and so we switch off the feeder simultaneously; Kericho today, tomorrow we switch off for Kapkatet, and sometimes on a day we switch off five to six feeders,’’ explained the CS.
Chirchir said the situation would soon be sorted out since the power line will be upgraded after the government sourced funding from Korea to solve the challenge.
“We have a contractor on site, and we started building the Narok Bomet, so that we don’t have to get all the power from Kisumu, Muhoroni, and Chemosit. The problem does not only affect Kericho, but it impacts heavily on Bomet, Kisii, Homabay, and Awendo in the Nyanza region.’’ Chirchir said.
“When we switch off Kericho, we have to switch off another area to sustain enough power supply. If we don’t do that, we will have to shut down the whole country. I’m not sleeping and am really working on it to resolve the challenge. Every now and then I receive calls from the highest office on how far I have gone to resolve the challenge,’’ he elaborated.
The CS further said that the projects are estimated to cover 15 months but have been shortened to a minimum of two months to address the challenge, saying that plans are underway to ensure that 30,000 public institutions are connected to the national grid.
“There should not be a primary school, a dispensary, a high school, or a market that is not connected to electricity as of today,” Chirchir pointed out.
The ICT authority is working with Kenya Power on this project connecting the fibre optic cables to every transformer in the country so that all those 76,000 transformers in the country have a fibre optic cable reaching Kenyans meant to enable them to access the broad band connectivity network within 600 metres from every household.
This, he said, will spur economic transformation where the youth will generate income through content creation through digital jobs and social media marketing.
Kericho County being part of planned projects in MTP IV projects for the 2023–2027 plan, the national government intends to construct the Kerenga Airstrip, complete the construction of Kericho pool housing, establish 60 housing units at Sondu Police Station, and establish and operationalize the Primary Healthcare Networks (PCNs).
Other projects captured in the MTP4 for Kericho include the construction of a new level 3 hospital in collaboration with the county government. Construction of roads, noting that the Anaimoi- Kapka-Tenges/Kapkayo-Kapsaos road is 23% complete. Kericho Northern Bypass, the KTSSP Interchange at Kericho Jn/C23, and the Ahero turnoff (Jn A1/B1) have also been completed.
The Energy CS planted trees at Keongo Primary School in Kericho during his visit, a move that the Kenya Kwanza administration is advocating for the growing of 15 billion trees in the next 10 years in the country.
“I’m expected to plant 53 million trees in the next 10 years in the Energy and Petroleum Ministry. The president is taking the issue of tree planting very seriously and has put in resources to encourage Kenyans to grow trees and guard against their destruction. We need to plant more trees in Chepalungu, Kipkelion Forest, and other forests in Bomet and Kericho Counties,” Chirchir said.
“Our economy continues to face challenges including widening inequality, low productivity, and susceptibility to economic shock. These challenges demand urgent and absolute intervention to gain lost ground and align ourselves with MTP IV aspirations,’’ Chirchir said.
The vision of 2030 MTP 4 is geared towards improving the lives of those at the bottom of the economic pyramid. The details are captured in the BETA Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda.
Consequently, the CS said it was imperative to ensure that MTP4 and the County Integrated Development Plans (CIDP) are aligned with the Bottom-Up Economic Transformational Agenda (BETA) objectives and key priorities.
“We will leverage technology and scientific advances to stimulate economic transformation in a sustainable manner. We need to address the question of health issues. Health is a big challenge; we need to pool all together to avoid the urge to sell properties in order to pay for health care,” he pointed out.
Also present at the forum were Kericho County Commissioner Gilbert Kitiyo, Kericho County Executive Committee Members, National Government Heads of Departments, the National Treasury and Economic Planning Ministry senior staff members, and members of the public from Kericho.
By Dominic Cheres
