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{
    "id": 1378874,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1378874/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 147,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Osotsi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13588,
        "legal_name": "Osotsi Godfrey Otieno",
        "slug": "osotsi-godfrey-otieno"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, if we want to address this issue of IPPs, we must recommend that all those agreements be cancelled. A House of Parliament has the power to do that. We are saying that 14 days after the adoption of the Report, the Ministry will give full disclosure of the owners of the IPPs, after that, nothing happens because nothing has been recommended. We are looking upon the Committee on Energy, when it sits down, to implement this Report, come back to this House with a Motion that requires this House to order for the termination of those illegal contracts, which continually impoverish our people. The issue of inefficiencies is another aspect contributing to the high cost of power. When we talk about inefficiency, it should not be about the distribution of power. We need to look at inefficiencies through the value chain from generation, transmission and distribution of power. Generation of power has been an area of corruption. From the days of President Moi, we had problems with the Turkwel Hydro-Electric Power Station. Some of these power projects are money-minting projects for people in the Government. That inefficiency ends up in the cost of electricity for our consumers. We need to look at all those inefficiencies along the value chain. Madam Temporary Speaker, on the issue of transmission of power, KETRACO is there. However, it is another problem where there is massive corruption and high pending bills. This Report talks about pending bills of Kshs20 billion. Why are we talking about Kshs20 billion pending bills for a company that is supposed to help in coming up with transmission plants to enhance more power to our people? We need a restructuring of KETRACO and to remove politics from it. We change the leadership of KETRACO every now and then for political consideration. That organization is supposed to be purely professional, managed mostly by engineers. However, we bring in people who have no background in engineering to manage large- scale projects. That is where corruption comes in. Madam Temporary Speaker, we also have a problem in the distribution. People have to bribe officials from Kenya Power Company or the REA to get electricity supplied to them. These are things that should not be happening in this country if we mean business, in order to reduce the cost of power. This Report also recommends that three major projects be completed in a span of six months. They are the Narok-Bomet Line that is supposed to generate about 132 kV, the Mariakani Substation meant to generate between 220-400 kV and the Turkwel-Ortum -Kitale Line, and this is important. We experience blackouts and low quality power in the region where I come from all the time because of some of these lines that are supposed to supply power to the Western part of the country. A few months back, we heard about Kenya Power’s report by the Auditor- General on the billing software. There was a massive rip-off that still goes on. What action has been taken? The Committee fell short to tell us more about actions that have taken following the audit report by the Office of the Auditor-General. Madam Temporary Speaker, the reforms in the energy sector have a major challenge, particularly in the implementation of the Energy Act, where we are told that there are 27 Regulations lying idle at the office of the Attorney General. 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."
}