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{
    "id": 406539,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/406539/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 76,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "When KenGen was partly sold, you remember the way it was over-subscribed. It was subscribed more than two to three times. Subsequently when they also floated bonds to raise money, it was significantly subscribed. In other words, in our own capital markets, we have huge amounts of resources that are available. Kenyans are ready to invest. In the last three years, there is no company that has floated shares. No public company in the last four to five years has been sold in the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) yet the liquidity in our capital markets in this country is quite huge. Mr. Speaker, Sir, there is need for the Committee to really engage Treasury and the Government in this regard so that they can utilize the opportunities which are available. It is a shame that three donor funded rigs that are really wells for the purpose of generating this power are now being abandoned because GDC is unable to recruit 100 staff to operate those rigs. So, those rigs have to be shut down. It is a shame and then we say that we are committed to providing power and reducing the cost of power. The other thing I want to mention in this matter is that there are a number of challenges in terms of policy. This is an area where there a lot of political passions. This is why you have seen a lot of investments. People have been allowed to invest significantly in generators and other emergency suppliers so that you put it on the national grid and you get a lot of money, yet that is the single most expensive source of power at Kshs35 per kilowatt. The Government must stop that. You cannot tell Kenyans that you are committed to providing cheaper sources of energy yet you are licensing others to continue so that they can make money and rip off Kenyans. It is unfortunate; if you look at your electricity bill, you can see how many things you are charged for; fuel adjustment and forex adjustments. In other words, you are carrying all the liabilities of that corporation just to make sure that that company remains profitable. So, even when the tariffs are increased, even when the Kenya Power Company asks for tariff increases, you will find that they are actually making huge profits. Why does that happen? How do you allow a company to increase their tariffs when they are making huge profits? At the same time, you can also look at the quality of service we are getting. You sit in this Senate and the power just goes off. You are running your factory and the power just goes off. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I think it is time we really looked at the policies in this industry to ensure that the Government is committed. The previous challenges that we have had because of the politics is the corruption in this industry. That has been responsible for the high cost of energy. We have been told of situations where the cost of drilling a well was about US Dollars 2 million and next time we will be told that this cost has risen to US Dollars 4 million. This is an industry where we need to ensure that there is value for money because this is where we depend on as a country in order to take off. There cannot be an industrial take off unless you have energy that is cheap, affordable and regular. I think it is important that the current Cabinet Secretary and his team focus on cleaning up this sector. In this regard, I want to mention that, in fact, the Government is crippling this sector. I want the Senate Majority Leader to note this. Nine months after they came to power, we do not have a substantive managing director for KenGen, the Kenya Power Company (KPC) and the Kenya Pipeline Company. Those positions were advertised---"
}