- The committee has indicated that efforts to get the names of the beneficial owners of the IPPs proved futile.
- A presidential task force attributed the expensive electricity partly to costly Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) that Kenya Power inked with IPPs.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
Attorney General Justin Muturi has directed the Registrar of Companies to furnish MPs with names of beneficial owners of Independent Power Producing companies that signed contracts with Kenya Power.
Appearing before the National Assembly’s Energy Committee, Muturi said there was no reason why MPs probing the high cost of electricity could not be given information about the owners of the IPPs.
He said the Companies Act 2015 provides that beneficial owners of companies must provide their details during registration, whether local or foreign.
“Information about the owners of these IPPs should be available at the Registrar of Companies,” he stated.
The committee has indicated that efforts to get the names of the beneficial owners of the IPPs proved futile as an official from the Registrar of Companies said the firms were registered before 2015.
Muturi however said the office should provide the names even if the firms were registered before the Act came into force.
“You cannot say, for example, that my firm was registered under the old Constitution so I cannot be governed under the new Constitution. I direct the office to provide you with the details you need,” he stated.
The Registrar of Companies at the Attorney General's Chambers in Nairobi is responsible for business/company registrations.
Committee chair Vincent Kawaya said they suspected that the people in the Ministry of Energy and government offices are directors in the companies
“We have no option but to unearth the owners of these companies,” said Kawaya, who is also the MP for Mwala.
A presidential task force attributed the expensive electricity partly to costly Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) that Kenya Power inked with IPPs.
The cost of electricity has been at an all-time high affecting the cost of living and doing business.
The presidential task force investigated the reasons for the high costs of electricity and concluded that Kenya Power's involvement in expensive and uncompetitive power purchase deals with IPPs was the main cause.
In July, the Central Organisation of Trade Unions asked the government to revoke all Power Purchase Agreements with IPPs and negotiate better terms.
Appearing before the Energy Committee of the National Assembly, Cotu Secretary General Francis Atwoli said IPPs have to be tamed to address the high cost of electricity.
He argued that the cost of power that IPPs agree with the government has been, in most cases, higher than the cost of electricity produced by state-owned firms like KenGen.