Kenyan citizens should prepare for more frequent power outages as the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) struggles to maintain a steady supply of electricity due to high production costs.

This news comes after economist David Ndii clarified that the Kenya Kwanza government never promised Kenyans cheap electricity during their pre-election manifesto.

Ndii stated that the only two options for power bills are either costly power available 24/7 or cheap power available for a few hours a day, like in South Africa.

He emphasized that Kenya Kwanza promised to reduce the cost of production, which is what is currently driving up power bills.

The manifesto highlighted infrastructure as a priority, and the government promised to improve reliability and bring down the cost of electricity through various means, including mobilizing resources to revamp the transmission and distribution network, accelerating geothermal resources development, developing a Liquified Natural Gas storage facility in Mombasa, and enforcing transparency and public accountability in the electricity sector.

Ndii explained that the current power bills result from high production costs, including fuel used for generation and water levies.

These costs of production are what the government promised to reduce, not tariffs, which are unlikely to come down anytime soon due to the heavy medium-term capital investments required.

As KPLC struggles to maintain a steady supply of electricity, Kenyans can expect more frequent power outages.

However, the government remains committed to improving infrastructure and bringing down the cost of electricity in the long term.