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{
    "id": 1380121,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1380121/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 301,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wamatinga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13582,
        "legal_name": "Wahome Wamatinga",
        "slug": "wahome-wamatinga"
    },
    "content": "As it has been pointed out by various contributors on the Floor of this House, the energy sector is one of the areas that Kenya needs to get right for us to move forward. We know that energy is one of the key enablers of industrial development. We know that the Kenya Kwanza Government is committed to starting agro- processing parks in all the 47 counties to provide hundreds of thousands of affordable houses. All this will have to be supplied with power. Without getting the matrix of power supply right, and getting and managing the cost of power, we will continue losing investors to neighbouring countries. A lot has been said as to why the cost of energy is so high in Kenya, starting with electricity. We got it wrong when we brought on board Independent Power Providers (IPPs). The contracts were skewed to favour investors with little regard to consumers. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it has been said repeatedly by various contributors to this Report that there is no contract that is cast in stone. One of the main reasons we want to know the owners and shareholders is because we want to establish a linkage that will point to misuse of power and abuse of office, so that we start a nullification process in order to save Kenyans millions of shillings that they lose every year. It is not lost to us that the inefficiencies and issues of accountability in some of the organisations like Kenya Power that are mandated with distribution of power have led to some of the inevitable high costs. As I pointed out yesterday when I was moving the Motion, we have transmission losses of about 26 per cent. The best practice across the globe falls under 10 per cent in some countries. If we were to get this right, that would mean we would save 15 per cent. However, there are things that must be done. We have come to the realisation that unless we get the cost of energy right, we will not attract industrialisation, mitigate the high cost of production or attract foreign investors in this country. As a result, it is imperative that we, as Senators and leaders, sit down together, and with the implementation of the resolutions that were made by the Committee, move the energy sector towards the direction that it must take to reduce the cost of power. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is also not lost to us that power metres supplied by Kenya Power can be produced or assembled locally. There is a time when the Government had put in place systems and mechanisms to encourage local assembly and production to create employment. As a country that has many challenges in creating employment, it is quite unfortunate that even some of these things like smart metres continue to be imported from foreign countries. These are things that can be produced within our institutions of higher learning that will---"
}