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{
    "id": 1378824,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1378824/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 97,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Kisang",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2263,
        "legal_name": "William Kipkemoi Kisang",
        "slug": "william-kipkemoi-kisang"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Report by the Committee on Energy. I am the Vice Chairperson of the Committee. We took a lot of time to do this inquiry because last year, there was an outcry over the cost of living as a result of the cost of power in the country. Between 1999 and 2009 when there were serious blackouts in the country, the then Government, in its own wisdom, decided to engage IPPs to supplement generation of electricity in the country. We suspect that the then civil servants, especially those who were in the Ministry of Energy, colluded with IPPs to sign contracts and agreements that are difficult to terminate. Most Members who have spoken here have said that we need to terminate those contracts and agreements. We went through all the agreements and there is no exit clause. It was like having Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to generate power. The contracts have a fixed time to generate power. Most of them are between 20 and 25 years. There is nothing we can do with those agreements because IPPs could have gotten offshore loans and invested. The country cannot terminate them. If you terminate, you will be forced to pay for the reminder of the time of the agreement. That is why they are very expensive. All these loans were denominated either in euros or dollars. That is why any slight change in the weakening of our currency becomes very expensive to supply power to Kenyans. Mr. Speaker, Sir, one of the reasons we said in the first recommendation that we need to know the owners of these particular companies within 14 days is because we want to know those culpable. If they are those who were in power or in office at that particular time, then the recommendation on Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) coming in will now effect. We suspect some of the Permanent Secretaries (PSs) or the Ministers at that time decided to form offshore companies and engaged a few international partners to fleece Kenyans. It is good to inform Members so that they know one of the reasons why we want to know the real beneficial owners of these companies. We have also made recommendations that will easily reduce the cost of power. There are three main lines: Turkwel-Ortum-Kitale. It will, basically, sort out the Western part of Kenya because it will stabilise the grid and reduce the cost of power. The thermal unit within that area could be retired because Kenya Power and Lightening Company (KPLC) told us that they use thermal power to do uptake, which is picking power. These are not expensive lines. The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum and Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) had promised us before that some of these lines would be complete by last year December and others by May this year. We, as a Committee, are following it up very closely to ensure resources are allocated so that these lines are completed. The line between Narok and Bomet will open that region. There is very expensive thermal power in Muhoroni. When this line of Bomet-Narok is completed, the thermal power plant by Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC (KenGen) that is in The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}