Why Energy PS must now resign for failing the Energy Sector

The Kenya Alliance of Resident Associations (Kara) is saddened by revelations that the government has recently signed off an energy policy that allows power producers to casually and unconditionally pass onto consumers all losses arising from their foreign currency related transactions.

First, it was rationing that resulted in high fuel cost adjustments for the “emergence” power. Now - a faulty policy has been put in place to unnecessarily escalate the cost of electricity, which is already unreasonably high.
It is sad that the government is fond of excuses on why the country cannot mobilize sufficient and affordable electricity. Apart from last year’s drought, which didn’t come in one day anyway, flimsy excuses were piled one after the other to deny Kenyans the reality of undisrupted and cheap electricity.

Indeed, it is scandalous that electricity generating companies, the regulator and the government appear to have conspired to set the US dollar exchange rate threshold at Sh64 when the last time the shilling got to that point was in June 2008.

Kenyans cannot expect the current skewed composition of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), without consumer representatives, not to favour the same people it is supposed to regulate namely oil marketers, service providers, government and lately power.
Hence, it is no surprise that consumers are always made to pay for the gross inefficiencies of the service providers.
That the Kenya Power and Lighting Company, for instance, passed a whooping KSh. 2.3B to consumers following foreign exchange losses is an unrealistic act that must be condemned.

In the end, this makes Kenya an uncompetitive for investors. It equally hikes the cost of essential goods and services thus making the cost of living to go through the roof.
Kara protests this unfair policy, which must be immediately reviewed. At the same time, we are calling for a review of the ERC Act to include sufficient numbers of consumer and other civil society organizations.
From the foregoing, we are calling on the Energy PS Mr. Patrick Nyoike to resign from his position if he can no longer rein in on unscrupulous and exploitative service providers within the wider energy sector. It is important that the PS comes clear that his Ministry has not turned its back on the consumers of petrol and electricity.

The PS has also left the so-called Efficient Lighting Project in total disarray as the government pledge to offer free energy-saving bulbs has turned into a fiasco that can no longer be relied upon to realize the good intentions of the project. It is not clear how many units of bulbs were actually bought; who has been issued what number of bulbs and when everyone else will receive them.
Finally, as his Education counterpart Prof. Karega Mutahi is being asked to step aside over the missing free primary education cash, then why is it that the Energy PS cannot go the same way over the now hushed “Triton scandal” at the and the Kenya Pipeline Company where he continues to sit on its board?

Stephen Mutoro
Chief Executive Officer
KARA - "Together, We Will"

5th February 2010