Kenya: Power Supply Restored in Most Parts of the Country as Restoration Continues

26 August 2023

Nairobi — Kenya Power has said electricity is back in most parts of the country including sections of Nairobi, Nyeri, Murang'a, and Kiambu following a national wide blackout that has lasted more than twelve hours.

The utility firm has affirmed that restoration is underway in 27 counties that are still experiencing total blackout due to the power supply interruption.

Kenya on Friday night plunged into total darkness due to a power outage, which Kenya Power attributed to a "system disturbance."

"We are working to restore the remaining areas and we shall update once the remaining generating plants are back. We apologise to our customers for any inconveniences caused and we thank them for their patience," the utility firm stated.

While power outages are not uncommon in Kenya, the sudden darkness at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) took many by surprise and escalated into widespread public frustration and anger.

The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) revealed that the airport's power outage was due to the failure of one of its generators to start.

After the unprecedented scenario at Kenya's largest international airport, which left passengers stranded, Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen issued an apology.

"I am really sorry for what has happened at JKIA with the blackout. There is no excuse worth reporting and there is no reason why our airport is in darkness," he said in a tweet.

After the blackout at JKIA, Murkomen expressed his determination to take measures, and he had a scheduled announcement for the next course of action on Saturday.

Kenya Power restored power at the airport and in various regions across the country after a duration of almost five hours.

As of Saturday, certain areas including Nairobi continued to experience power outages, despite assurances from the utility firm that they were tirelessly working to address the problem.

"We are working to restore normalcy in all other areas as soon as possible," read in part the Kenya Power statement.

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