MPs have rejected a proposal from the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum to lift the moratorium on Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).
The lawmakers cited concerns over inadequate safeguards to protect taxpayers from potential exploitation by private investors.
The Ministry had approached Parliament with a request to lift the moratorium specifically on coal-fired power plants, stressing the urgency of expanding power sources to meet Kenya’s increasing energy needs.
The MPs who chair key committees—including departmental, audit, appropriations, and select committees—voiced strong objections on the ministry wanting the moratorium on power purchase agreements lifted.
The legislators insisted that the Ministry must first implement stringent measures to prevent projects from disproportionately favouring investors at the expense of public interest.
Lawmakers maintained that no relaxation of the moratorium should proceed until sufficient protections are established to ensure that any new agreements prioritise taxpayer welfare and national interests.
They spoke during the National Assembly leadership retreat with Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi in Naivasha.
Led by Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka, who chairs the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Energy, lawmakers said there is no substantial basis for lifting the moratorium.
“It was not without cause that honourable Jane Kagiri tabled a motion leading to a moratorium on new PPAs. The question is whether those initial concerns have been addressed. The answer is no,” said Musyoka.
Musyoka emphasised that Parliament, as the people’s representative, must be fully involved in PPA-related decisions.
Emuhaya MP Omboko Milemba said the reason why the moratorium was put in place was because the PPAs “were so bad and they were making the Kenyans pay more.”
The Cabinet approved on February 28, 2023 the removal of the September 2021 moratorium on new power purchase agreements (PPAs).
The moratorium was put in place by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta's 'PPA Taskforce' in September 2021, suspending activity for investors seeking agreements with the government to sell power to the grid.
The PPA Taskforce aimed to reduce the cost that the heavily indebted state-owned utility Kenya Power was paying independent power producers (IPPs) for electricity.