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{
    "id": 1380044,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1380044/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 224,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mandago",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13577,
        "legal_name": "Kiplagat Jackson Mandago",
        "slug": "kiplagat-jackson-mandago"
    },
    "content": "The frequency of blackouts is high, making productivity difficult in this country. Nobody takes KPC to task for household losses, particularly when there are blackouts. Many people have lost their fridges and electronics because of power failures and blackouts. It is time we became strict with KPC, which is a monopoly. We should open up this space so that we can have more companies distributing electricity in this country and stop the monopoly of KPC, which is making them inefficient. They cannot innovate because they know whether they are efficient or not, they will sell electricity and determine the tariffs. They will increase the rates as and when they wish. They will make us pay for loans for projects that have not succeeded, like the Loiyangalani Wind Power Pproject, which took ages. A lot of money was spent by KETRACO on the project, but to date, has not been accounted for. We cannot have an institution that does not have redundancy measures to maintain its lines. It is impossible to tell us that for the company to maintain a power line, they must switch power. What happened to the power from Uganda and Turkwel? There should be a means of interconnecting this network. So, if you are maintaining a line from Uganda, the power from Turkwel should be sufficient to run the systems. We cannot have a nation that is not certain of its power simply because we have an institution that is a monopoly and has used this opportunity to be inefficient. Experience in this country has shown that there will be innovation if you open up to competition. Remember the days when we used to have Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC). They were running the mail, telephone and other services. The day this institution was disbanded and new institutions came into place was when Kenyans enjoyed access to telephone services. This is how the mobile telephone sector in this country grew within a short time. If we can stop the monopoly of KPC, every Kenyan in every part of this country will access electricity. In the northern part of Kenya where we have no dams, we shall have people willing to invest in solar energy and supply electricity to citizens. Those in Moyale and Marsabit, where we have a lot of wind, will get energy through wind power. I support the work of this Committee and the recommendations they have made. However, as I support this Report, this House must also consider bringing back the Senates Implementation Committee to ensure that recommendations are followed up. We cannot have Ministries receiving reports and failing to act on them. We should be effective and ensure that such critical and good work of this Committee does not fail. I ask my colleagues to consider bringing back that committee, as one of the committees in the House so that we follow up on the recommendations that the Senate has made. I beg to support."
}