KPLC Cuts Power to County Offices Over Ksh40,000 Debt

Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has disconnected power at the lands office in Embu County due to an outstanding debt of Ksh40,000.
Confirming the power outage, Embu County Senator Alexander Mundigi claimed activities at the offices, including land transactions and title deed generations, had come to a standstill.
According to Mundigi, Embu County County Executive Committee (CEC) Member for Lands, Housing, and Physical Planning, Raymond Njagi should act fast and ensure that the debt is settled to ensure the resumption of normalcy in the offices.
“The land CEC in this county should ensure that he pays the outstanding debt to bring the office, which is situated at the centre of Embu town, back to life because it is in total darkness,” the senator claimed.
“Nothing can go on because even the officers here have to use computers to verify land titles, and the outage is very disturbing because we never expected it. Embu Land offices should pay Ksh40,000 so that the electricity may come back, and the people of Embu get services,” he added.
It is not the first time the power company has had disputes with county governments over unpaid debts. Just six months ago, the company clashed with the Nairobi County government due to unpaid electricity bills, a situation that only ended after the intervention of President William Ruto.
Kenya Power switched off electricity in several Nairobi County offices over Ksh3 billion in unpaid electricity bills. In return, the county government officials dumped garbage outside Kenya Power headquarters, turned on sewage pipes in the area, and evenclamped several of their vehicles over Ksh4.9 billion in unpaid bills.
“There has been a long-standing issue with payments, which used to be settled in the past. In the same way that KPLC cuts power when there is non-payment, the county government also has remedies provided by law. Some of these actions include withdrawing county services and clamping buildings,” Sakaja said after the dispute.
Speaking during a church service on Sunday, March 2, President Ruto revealed that he immediately had a phone call with Sakaja and the head of KPLC to settle the issue.
After the call, the president said thatthe two parties agreed to settle their dispute amicably, and Sakaja even apologised for dumping waste outside the Stima Plaza.
“I want to thank Governor Sakaja. Recently, they made a mistake. I called this governor and also called the others and told them they had to stop this thing. I’m grateful the governor apologised because a mistake was made, and it takes a courageous, strong leader to say, I’m sorry,” Ruto said.
“Governor, congratulations on apologising. We must now pick up from there and move forward together as a city to build a strong city and a strong nation,” he added.