KPLC: We have restored power at Kiwanja area, Roysambu

The Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has announced the successful restoration of power supply at the Kiwanja area in Roysambu.

In a statement, the utility firm said it has managed to recover a 315kVA transformer temporarily installed and replace it with another 200kVA which is appropriate to serve energy demand in the area.

“We thank the security agencies for their intervention to facilitate a successful conclusion of this exercise,” read the statement.

On Monday, students from Kenyatta University held protests along the Thika Superhighway demanding that power be restored.

They erected boulders and lit bonfires, resulting in a massive traffic jam on the busy highway.

While explaining the events leading to outage, the firm said the unfortunate state of affairs dates back to late last year when a 200kVA transformer serving the Kiwanja area failed.

It had affected an area, popularly known as KM, which is home to hostels where some students reside.

To mitigate a power outage in the area, a bigger capacity transformer (315 kVA) was temporarily deployed as the company did not have in its stores a 200kVA transformer at the time, it said in a statement.

The company said on January 23, a team of engineers was deployed to the area to swap the high-capacity transformer with a low-capacity unit because its capacity is bigger than the demand in the affected area.

"The team was under instruction to install the new transformer and recover the 315kVA unit that had been installed as a stop gap measure. As soon as the team commenced disconnection of the 315kVA transformer to facilitate the swap, locals confronted them by throwing stones and injuring a number of staff, and damaging the truck that had ferried the team and the new transformer to the site," Kenya Power said.

The Company also used the opportunity to reiterate its commitment to supply safe and reliable electricity as it upholds the safety of all its staff and customers.

“In this regard, we call upon the public to work collaboratively with the Company as it executes its mandate of powering people for better lives.”