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{
    "id": 909973,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/909973/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 740,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nakuru Town East, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. David Gikaria",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2489,
        "legal_name": "David Gikaria",
        "slug": "david-gikaria"
    },
    "content": "In fact, most of the industries now have run to our neighbouring countries. They are running away from Kenya and indicating that their production cost has gone high. They are particularly signifying the cost of power as one of the reasons why they are reallocating to the neighbouring countries. I think it is important for us now to start thinking on how much we put in generation and how much we allocate for distribution and transmission. It was very sad in the last financial year. Around 21 transmission projects which were up to 80 and 90 per cent complete were not given a single penny. This would have gone towards enhancing the demand aspect. It was very unfortunate that this current year, 2018/2019, the ministry has realised the importance of completing the 21 projects, about 70 per cent going to Nyanza and the western region. It is important for us. Power surges in those regions were daily talk, but I hope with the commitment that has been done through this Budget, we will be able to have enough power in western and Nyanza regions. We have also re-emphasised, as a Committee, the aspect of if you are going to do more generation, then it must come from renewable energy, particularly solar and wind. We are saying this because most of these areas are off grid areas and we cannot be able to supply enough energy to these regions because they are not connected to the grid. I am proud that in this financial year, we were able to do almost a Kshs10 billion project in Garissa that will produce over 50 megawatts to be able to supply the off-grid areas that have not been connected. This will go a long way in enhancing our percentage in terms of connectivity. One of the biggest challenges that we, as a committee, have really tried to fight is wiping out the diesel power but it has become a very big problem. There are cartels within the energy sector and it is hard to wipe out the owners and proprietors of this diesel power. At the end of the day, from the contribution, whatever power is sold to the national grid from the diesel power has ended up now being the high cost of energy in this country. I think it is important for us because we have, on several occasions, tried to stop the diesel power but they were saying how else can be able to… They want to use diesel power as a base for our energy generation. I think this is something that we need to deal with in this financial year. It is the elephant in the room, particularly within the Committee that we have to fight and be able to have whatever is given to the national grid from the diesel power reduced so that we can improve on the cost of energy. For us to achieve universal access to electricity throughout the country, then there are some issues that we have recommended. Under Standing Order No.216, one of the mandates of our Committee is to try and check the previous year’s budget and the implementation aspect. We have had a big problem. One of the biggest problems, and this was coming from the Executive, is that some of these MDAs did not have directors for almost over seven months. The Rural Electrification Authority (REA), a very important parastatal within the ministry that supplies electricity to rural areas did not have directors for a record nine months in one financial year. You can see how it has affected the connectivity of rural electrification. If REA was not been able to have their procurement plan approved, then there is nothing much that the management would do. We will try to look at the appointments of directors. Do we need, as Parliament, to come up with a law that if and when there is a vacancy, there must be a timeline as to when these directors should be replaced? I am saying this because by the time they got their directors in March, this year they had to be given some orientation because they are new. It then takes time for them to start working. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}