A dispute between county governments and Kenya Power is intensifying as governors go for a share of revenue from fibre optic cables mounted on the utility’s power lines.
Appearing before the Senate Committee on Energy, the Council of Governors stated that Kenya Power has been charging telcos for the cable and counties have not been getting a share of the same.
Marsabit Governor Mohamud Ali now wants the Senate to intervene and help them get the millions from the utility company.
“CoG recommends Senate to compel KPLC to provide information on all revenues they have received from sub-leasing the telecommunication companies,“ Mohamud told the Committee chaired by Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga.
The Marsabit county boss said KPLC has been granted wayleaves on county lands but they are using the same to make profits from private telecommunication firms, monies that do not reach counties.
“KPLC is actively profiting from subleasing its infrastructure to private companies,” Ali said.
He cited their submission in a petition where they confirmed they had more than 1,800 km nationwide connectivity of fibre optics cables leased to licensed telecommunication providers.
“However, historically KPLC and telecommunication providers have not been paying for these telecommunication providers,” Ali said.
He also demanded that KPLC pay way leaves charges for their transmission lines, while disputing outstanding debts owed by counties to the utility company.
The debts, according to KPLC, now stand at Sh4.7 billion.
But Ali questioned the bills, saying an audit exercise has shown massive reduction on the actual cost.
County officials argue that there are discrepancies between KPLC’s claims and county records stemming from unverified electricity connections and billing.
“A joint verification between Nairobi county and KPLC demonstrated that there were some accounts not in the Nairobi county government that accounted for the total bill,” Ali said.
“Machakos county was given an invoice of Sh141 million by KPLC, but after auditing their accounts, they found that there was a reduction in the bill to Sh56 million.”
Ali also doubles as the chair of the Energy Committee at the Council of Governors.
Without joint audits or verification exercises, governors argue they are being arm-twisted into accepting questionable debts.
The Marsabit governor appealed for legislative intervention to unlock the stalemate that he cautioned risks creating bad blood between the two entities.
Kakamega Senator Bohi Khalwale called for compromise. He said the two entities need to have a sit-down to resolve the issues before Senate intervention.
“The money the CoG are talking about is substantial. You want to be paid and Kenya Power also wants to be paid. What is the compromise?” Khalwale asked.
In his response, Ali stated that attempts to resolve the matter with KPLC were futile after the utility company went silent after forming a committee.
“We requested KPLC to meet with the Energy Committee of the Council in an attempt to solve this matter,” the governor said.
"We were to form a committee and as CoG, we were to send representatives to agree on the actual claims. Unfortunately, since that time, they have not gotten back to us."
