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{
    "id": 1380080,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1380080/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 260,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "I am glad that this Report states that the first thing we have to do is unveil these companies. We have to put the faces so that we can see the people responsible for all the deaths and destruction, every single time we have power blackouts. I am happy to see that there is a recommendation there about honouring the cheaper IPPs and dealing with the ones we have now. I am not of the opinion that we should have IPPs, I think they should be shut down. I have heard people say that we cannot negotiate contracts. This Government has gone to China to renegotiate past loans. So, who are these people in the name of IPPs who we cannot renegotiate our contracts with? Who are they? Are they God that we cannot renegotiate what we have gotten into? When you look at how we are approaching it, we seem to be walking on eggshells. That is why I congratulate the Chairperson and the Committee Members because they have come out without fear or favour and they have documented what they found, and have given the proper recommendations that have to be implemented. On that issue of renegotiating with the IPPs, why should we allow them to be held hostage? We are an independent State. We are no longer under colonial rule. So, for someone to say we cannot renegotiate our contracts, are they trying to say that they are holding us hostage? I have heard, my Chair of the delegation, Kisii County, worried about Ethiopia and the kind of contracts we have with them. Let me shed some light on that. We travelled with the Committee of National Cohesion, Equal Opportunity and Regional Integration on different matters to Ethiopia. While we were there, because I was also interested in this issue of IPPs, and what is happening and why our electricity is too expensive, the Chairperson of that Committee then, Sen. Chute, organised a sit down with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the equivalent of KP in Ethiopia. We found out that Ethiopia can supply more power to Kenya at less than half the price of the cheapest IPPs that are currently listed. We asked why we were not taking up that offer since Ethiopia had given us the offer on the table. It was very interesting for me as a legislator to learn that there are so many other offers out here that we could take up and drop these IPPs, so that we can bring down the cost of electricity. There is a funny story that I want to tell. Before I came to the Senate, I was a Kenyan hustling out there. Ever since I came back to this country, I have lived in the house where I live now. My average electricity bill was between Kshs5,000 and Kshs8,000. The day that I was sworn in and became a Senator, my electricity bill shot up to Kshs25,000. These are facts. It is documented. Nothing had changed. My consumption was the same. If anything, by that time, my son had gone to a boarding school, so I was even consuming less. I was in so much shock. When I asked for transparency - I have heard us talk about transparency - from the highest office of KPC till today, I am yet to receive an audited report of my metre."
}