Police Officers in Taveta police station are fumbling in the dark using candles and lanterns after Kenya Power disconnected electricity over Sh. 200,000 bill.
The bill is the arrears of over eight months according to Taveta Kenya Power (KP) boss, Julius Asava.
Asava said the debt was from August last year and the station has been unwilling to commit itself on how to clear it.
The company also disconnected power for street lights in the border town over an accrued bill of over sh.200, 000 by the county government. “This is a long standing bill and once cleared, we will reconnect the power,” said Mr. Asava.
The Taveta sub-county Police Commander, Lawrence Marwa said the matter was being handled and expressed optimism that power would be reconnected, adding that several units in police lines inside the station shared a single meter with the station thus the reason for the high bill.
He added that after officers were directed to move out, the bill was now expected to come down. “They are now living outside and the station has its own meter,” he said.
The KP County boss, Evan Agesa admitted that timely payment of bills was a challenge but expressed optimism the situation would improve.
Agesa said since 2015, under the Last Mile connectivity program, 3, 570 homesteads have been connected to the grid at a cost of sh.109 million, adding 75 per cent of those connected were paying without hitches.
He added that pubic lighting in towns and shopping centers in most places had cost sh.105 million with 1, 546 lights installed. “We are having some small challenges on payment of bills but we trust it will be overcome,” he said.
By Wagema Mwangi
