Kilgoris MP Julius Sunkuli has called out Kenya Power for the rise of the high cost of electricity, saying that they are making the people of Kenya suffer.
Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, the member of parliament decried how Kenyans suffer when Kenya Power employees go to collect electricity bills.
“You can live in a small apartment in Nairobi and still pay power as if you run an industry on Mombasa road. There is no formula. The guys come and look at your meter and I don’t know they look at it with what eyes and they give you a bill,” said Sunkuli.
“Then you ask yourself, supposing I was manufacturing bread somewhere on Mombasa road, how much would I pay if you can pay a lot of money when living in an apartment?”
He added:
“There is a time that KPLC gave the NYS the responsibility to read the bills for them and at that time the bills were fair.”
Sunkuli said the monopoly by KPLC must end in order for Kenya to be a good country.
“The amount of money you pay them; they don’t even acknowledge. They are very rude, they don’t have good customer service, and they do not have a way of managing their customers,” said Sunkuli.
“And that’s why one time I said Mr Speaker, If I go to heaven and I find a KPLC person there, I'll know I am in hell,” said Sunkuli.
“Because, how do you go to heaven under these circumstances? You are literally ripping off the people of Kenya, and then you are saying you are doing your job. This monopoly must end, and when it ends, Kenya will be a good country."
The ongoing dollar shortage in the country has seen electricity distributor, Kenya Power negotiate a new facility to clear two commercial debts worth Sh6 billion.
Kenya Power's Finance general manager, Stephen Vikiru told journalists that this is part of the firm's short-term strategy to cope with the current global dollar shortage.
He, however, failed to give more details about the commercial debts to be refinanced due to legal matters as the deal is yet to be concluded.
Vikiru revealed that the strengthening of the dollar has pushed up Kenya Power's debt obligation by at least 10 per cent.
The listed power distributor requires at least $50 million every month to pay Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and at least $30 million quarterly to pay off external debt.
