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{
    "id": 1224754,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1224754/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 138,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mwala, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Vincent Musau",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "When I looked at the Budget Policy Statement (BPS), I saw a deliberate effort to ensure that we take longer in doing projects that are low-hanging fruits that will quickly evacuate cheap power so that Kenyans can access cheaper power. You will find that there has been a strategy to deny funding to those kinds of projects that evacuate such power. For instance, in one of those projects, we are buying power at US$0.52 per kilowatt hour from Muhoroni Gas. Muhoroni Gas is the most expensive IPP in the country. Muhoroni Gas can be retired if we complete the Sondu-Homa Bay-Awendo line. If we complete the Lessos-Nakuru and Bomet lines, then we evacuate places otherwise currently served by Muhoroni Gas and others. What will the cartels do? The cartels will use force to ensure we do not complete these lines so that they continue selling expensive power. For instance, a bigger part of the coastal region has been surviving on Kipevu until we got a connection from Suswa. It was still not enough to evacuate enough power for the Mombasa region. We have now done the Suswa-Mariakani line. Look at how much we will require in terms of evacuating power from Mariakani to parts of Mombasa, Dongo Kundu, and others. You will find that it is a small component. However, in the many budgets we are receiving, you will find that component has not been prioritised for funding. It is because thermo producers would want to navigate their way to ensure they continue selling expensive power. Therefore, it is important for us to understand that there are various components that contribute to our power bill, the biggest being the cartels under the Independent Power Producers (IPP) arrangement. We have allowed ourselves to be blackmailed by these cartels, and the process of signing contracts is skewed to continue fleecing Kenyans. The Committee takes this Motion seriously. In fact, there is a resolution that the Committee undertakes a complete inquiry into this matter. On behalf of the Committee, I commit that we are going to give this exercise or Motion the priority it requires and we will report our findings to this House. You can expect heads to roll on this matter of the cost of energy. It is so huge that it cannot be handled in a day or in a matter of minutes. We are going to come up with a comprehensive report."
}