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{
    "id": 371832,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/371832/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 336,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Gikaria",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2489,
        "legal_name": "David Gikaria",
        "slug": "david-gikaria"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for the opportunity. Let me, first of all, take this chance to thank the hon. Bowen for bringing this very timely Motion. First, the issue that he has raised is whether we can bring in new players into power distribution by liberalizing the power industry, and at the same time look into ways of compensation for damage and loss property; for example, at times there is damage electrical items and burning of business premises as a result of problems in power supply. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to say that as Mover has already amplified in moving his Motion, we see that Kenya Power, since inception--- Of course capital injection for one to start this industry is quite high, and the Government had to come in and make Kenya Power a monopoly. But 50 years after Independence is time for us to start exploring new ways of bringing down the cost of power. Most of the damage is as a result of perennial blackouts that are occasioned by the inefficiency of the Kenya power. I want to support this Motion by saying that yes, it is time we did away with monopolistic power supply. Recently, when we had an opportunity to approve nominees for both Cabinet and Principal Secretaries positions, I noted some of the issues that Eng. Njoroge came up with. Of course, at some point in this House, the Chairman of the Energy, Communications and Information Committee was taken to task to explain why it had taken long to bring down the cost of power; during the period when Eng. Njoroge has been in office, the cost of it has kept on escalating. Recently, we saw a case where the Deputy President had to intervene to stop Kenya Power from increasing the tariffs that were, again, to affect the common mwananchi. I want to say that time has come for us to bring in other players, so that we can be effective, efficient and reduce the costs. In my area, most industries went down; they are no longer in operation. One of the factors was because of very high cost of production because of high electricity bills. Secondly, most water within my constituency is pumped from Subukia. The water company pays very high bills to bring water down the highlands; that has in turn affected the cost of water to an extent where light industries within my constituency have been forced to shut down; this has been because of either the high power cost, or the high water charges arising from the cost of pumping water using electricity. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to agree that despite the heavy injection of money that is required into the energy sector to produce adequate electricity--- I want to agree that recently we had an opportunity of visiting a geothermal power project. They are actually thinking of liberalizing by allowing the independent power producers to join the industry. We are asking the Government to assist the medium enterprises of people who want some money to buy the heads at the steam wells, so that they are able to generate power and distribute it the local areas. I want to agree that the effect of geothermal power itself will bring in new players. They are actually asking most of the counties to join in; In my county of Nakuru, they have been in touch with the Governor trying to discuss how best the county"
}