Kenya Power faults media for misinterpreting intel

Kenya Power faults media for misinterpreting intel

The Kenya Power Company has come out to defend its claims of hitting 5.7 million connections countrywide, a record that had come under scrutiny following reports that up to one million of those connections are non-existent.

The power company faulted the media for misinterpreting leaked emails between its managers on the matter.

Company Chief Operating Officer Ken Tarus pointed out that the media erroneously referred to the 940,668 zero vending meters as inactive connections.

He clarified that new household connections come with pre-loaded meters hence customers take time before making the initial purchase of tokens as they consume the pre-loaded units.

Tarus maintained that his company did not lie to the Government of Kenya, insisting that KPC maintains a centralised system that can be queried any time to confirm the number of connected customers.

The CEO, who was flanked to a press conference by the chairman of the board of directors, Kenneth Marende, also attributed the phenomenon to the booming housing sector where new units are connected before occupation.

To remedy the situation, Kenya Power will now require new customers to make the initial purchase of tokens to activite the pre-loaded units.

The company will also conduct community awareness on the importance of legal and safe connections.

Tarus said the company would prosecute customers found with illegal connections and bypassing of metres, adding that such connections contribute to high number of non-vending metres.

The current national connection stands at 63 per cent and the company is planning to push the figure to 70 Per cent by the end of this year.

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KENYA POWER Ken Tarus electricity connections non-vending meters

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