The Council of Governors (CoG) has advocated for a structured approach to dispute resolution between Kenya Power and its consumers.
CoG chair Ahmed Abdullahi said disputes between Kenya Power
and its consumers should not be allowed to put into jeopardy essential
services.
Abdullahi said the current standoff between Kenya Power and the Nairobi County Government has merely exposed a “fraction of distress countless Kenyans and institutions have endured for years due to abrupt power disconnections”.
“For over a decade, KPLC has wielded unchecked power over counties, often resorting to abrupt power disconnections without due process or consideration of the broader impact,” the CoG stated.
“It is time for Kenya Power to reflect on its actions, acknowledge the suffering caused by its practices, and work towards a fair, transparent, and predictable billing and disconnection process."
He said the Council of Governors has communicated with the
Ministry of Energy and Petroleum vide a correspondence to raise the
aforementioned issues.
“In this regard, we urge Kenya Power to utilise the existing
intergovernmental mechanisms to resolve any disputes with the County
Governments including the issues settlement of debt,” he stated.
Abdullahi said CoG has noted with great concern the ongoing
impasse between Nairobi County and Kenya Power, which has persisted for several
days.
The Nairobi County Government and Kenya Power have since
agreed to end their long-running dispute following a high-level meeting
convened by Head of Public Service Felix Koskei.
The meeting, which brought together Nairobi Governor Johnson
Sakaja and Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi, sought to settle commercial
disputes between the two entities, emanating from over Sh4.9 billion in unpaid
wayleave fees owed to the County by Kenya Power.
The row started when Kenya Power cut the electricity supply
at several Nairobi County offices over an outstanding Sh3.1 billion bill.
In his statement, Abdullahi added that Kenya Power owes
county governments land rates in the form of contribution in lieu of rates
(CILOR), wayleave charges, huge water bills and other levies to the tune of
billions of shillings since the inception of devolution.
But reacting on the issue of wayleave charges, Kenya Power in a
statement on Monday 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."
Reacting to the move to disconnect power at Nairobi county
premises, Kenya Power General Manager Commercial and Sales Rosemary Oduor said
on Monday that the move was in line with the law.
“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 Nairobi county government 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 bills.
“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.”
