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{
    "id": 1378829,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1378829/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 102,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13219,
        "legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
        "slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
    },
    "content": "Unless we allow competition - I expected that recommendation to be in this Report - Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, Sen. Mungatana, and Sen. Kisang’ - unless we kill monopoly and allow competition, we will always have these problems of high electricity tariffs. We can learn from other jurisdictions. During the Great Depression in the 1930s in the United States (US), President Roosevelt opened up the industry in 1933, and he allowed for the setting up of the Tennessee Valley Authority. One of the tasks of the Tennessee Valley Authority was to generate affordable power to the people of Tennessee Valley. You know that the decision by President Roosevelt increased the number of customers that were connected to electricity to millions. As we speak today, the cheapest power supply to the national grid in the US comes from the Tennessee Valley Authority. That is what we need to do because when you bring in competition, you can have competitive prices. All we need is cheap power. Members of this Committee, you will be surprised that if you purchase units worth Kshs.200, you will only get 3.7 units of electricity. That is extremely costly. I urge this Committee which has done a fantastic job to go a step further if this issue is to be implemented. There is the suggestion that we should kill monopoly, open the industry to competition so that we can have cheaper power supplied to our people. On the issue of what the Ethics and Anti-corruption (EACC) should do on investigations, it is really sad. You know, some of our parastatals especially Kenya Railways (KR), lost lots and lots of land in prime areas including Upper Hill and Parklands areas, because people just came and grabbed houses that belonged to KR. This recommendation that you have made for the National Land Commission (NLC) to ensure that it works with EACC to recover or to ensure that it protects land that Kenya Power owns is very good. I hope that this one will be taken seriously. In brief, so that I do not take a lot of time, this is very good work. In conclusion, Kenya Power has literally stolen from Kenyans. You have made a recommendation that the Auditor-General should audit Kenya Power financial statements and obligations and their billing software. This is the most eye-catching recommendation for me. There was even a case that was filed in court and orders were given to the effect that Kenya Power was stealing from Kenyans but nothing happened. Let us have an in- depth audit. If we get that there is evidence that leads to some fraud; deliberate stealing from poor Kenyans on billing, there should be a recommendation that money should be recovered from KPC and we refund poor Kenyans. Sen. Mundigi, there are people from Embu who have been robbed. This audit by the Auditor-General, if there is one thing that you need to ensure that is fully implemented, it is this suggestion to allow the Auditor- General to audit and see the billing. If there was any fraud, if there is money that has been stolen from Kenyans, it should be recovered. This is good work, Committee Members. We thank you for this and we hope that this report will not be put on the shelves to gather dust. This good work should see the 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."
}