Nairobi County government and Kenya Power and Lighting
Company on Monday clashed over a long-standing row emanating from unpaid bills
by the two entities.
As Kenya Power accused Nairobi County of not paying
electricity bills amounting to Sh3.1 billion on one hand, the City-County
government, on the other, said the utility farm owes them Sh4.83 billion.
Trouble started last week after Kenya Power disconnected
power in some of the City county offices over unpaid bills.
In retaliation, County Secretary Godfrey Akumali confirmed
on Monday that they disconnected the sewerage system and water supply
to their Stima Plaza in response to the Kenya power move.
Kenya Power General Manager Commercial and Sales Rosemary
Oduor in a press briefing on Monday said they disconnected power in line with
the law last week.
“We disconnected power in their offices and some of their
installations to distress for their bill arrears. When one fails to pay for
their bills, the utility can withdraw the service so that they are impressed
upon to pay the bill,” she said.
According to Oduor, they had written to the county
announcing their intention to disconnect power over unpaid bills.
She said they restored power to the City-County offices and
the affected installations on Friday after the City-County wrote back to them
expressing commitment to clear the loan.
“They did not communicate to us for a while but on Friday
they got back to us confirming that they were making arrangements to pay a
proportion of the bill they were supposed to pay,” she said.
“They requested that we restore the power supply so that we
continue with that journey together. We restored the power supply on Friday
based on the commitment.”
In a rejoinder, Akumali in a press address on Monday accused
KPLC of refusing to settle the Sh4.83 debt even as he denied that the county
owes the utility firm Sh3.1 billion in electricity bills.
Akumali said they have already informed Kenya Power of the
amount they owe them as electricity bills and paid a part of it as their
commitment to addressing pending arrears.
“Let it be very
clear—KPLC owes us Sh4.8 billion,” Akumali stated.
“Several letters demanding payment—sent in 2017, 2019, and
2020—have gone unanswered. The county’s latest demand, issued on December 6,
2024, puts the outstanding amount at Sh4.83 billion.”
Akumali at the same time asked Kenya Power to sort the
pending bills that they owe the county government.
He said they reconnect sewerage and water systems once Kenya Power pays the amount they owe them.
“Let them not play the victim. We’ve been without power for days because they disconnect us, yet we always pay and resolve issues. But when they owe billions, they refuse to pay or even acknowledge the debt. Let them pay, and we will reconnect their sewer and clean up,” Akumali said.
Finance CEC Charles Kerich highlighted that KPLC leases its
power poles and transmission lines to internet service providers (ISPs),
allowing them to run fibre-optic cables without paying wayleave fees to the
county.
“KPLC now hosts optic cables and internet services. Those green and red cables on their poles? That’s the internet. They are making money, yet they refuse to pay their debt. Who are we supposed to pay ours to?” Kerich said.
In a response to Kerich's sentiments, Kenya Power in a statement quoted section 223 of the Energy Act, 2019 saying:
"No public body shall charge levies on public energy infrastructure without the consent of the cabinet secretary in writing."
But even as the standoff continues, Akumali has expressed
commitment to dialogue over the matter.
“We remain open to dialogue as Nairobi City County
government and also committed to paying what we owe them,” he said.
