Residents threaten to sue KPLC over power surge

Residents of Maralal Town in Samburu County have threatened to sue the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) after their electric appliances were damaged following power surges.

Speaking to Citizen Digital, Ahmed Farah, chairperson of the Maralal Muslim Community, said youth who had taken loans to open up businesses are now at a loss after their tools were damaged.

“We have witnessed many power surges after rainfall, as a result Posho mills and barber shops are closed leaving people without work and making it hard for the youth to service their loans,”  said Mr. Farah.

Welding shops and cyber cafes are also reported to have suffered huge losses for the past three weeks as a result of the surges.

“We will be forced to unite and write a list of our electric appliances that have been damaged by power surge so that we can sue Kenya Power for compensation,” said one resident on condition of anonymity.

Mr. Farah further noted that Maralal, which is Samburu County’s headquarters, has experienced blackouts for most of this week.

“We really don’t understand what is happening, we would have black outs for a few hours or a few minutes but now we are experiencing blackouts for a whole day and night,” he lamented.

Residents are urging KPLC to check the Nyahururu-Maralal powerline and resolve the issue.

Kenya Power Business Manager, in charge of Samburu county, Richard Okoth, assured residents that the company would deal with the matter.

“We found faulty equipment and tree branches along the power line which were causing the blackouts especially after rains but we have already sorted this out and as we are speaking now there will reduced power supply interruptions,”  said Okoth.