Bomet County residents decry persistent power outages

Frequent power blackouts have hit Bomet County, causing economic losses to locals and the business community, with Kenya Power company coming under pressure to resolve the problem.

Hospitals, factories, hotels, supermarkets, retail outlets, barber shops and homes are the most affected by the blackouts said to have been made worse by the ongoing heavy rains that have hit the region over the last one month.

"We are appealing to Kenya Powe to address the matter once and for all so as to curb losses being incurred by the business community," said Mr Leonard Langat, the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Bomet branch chairman.

POWER POLES FALL

Mr Langat said the disruption of electricity supply had persisted for the last two months, with some areas like Mulot trading centre going without power for several days.

Electricity poles have fallen with power lines posing danger to the residents.

"We have situations where residents have been exposed to live electricity lines in the region due to fallen poles. It is by God's grace that no one has been electrocuted as a result," said Mr Langat.

Traders and residents in Bomet have lamented the frequent power blackouts in the region, which, according to Kenya Power, have been caused by heavy rainfall and the resultant floods.

GENERATORS

Factories, hospitals, hotels and other institutions in the region have been forced to use generators to ensure normal operations continue despite the power interruptions, which last for hours.

The businesses are incurring huge losses due to the high cost of using fuel.

According to Mr George Omwenga, the regional Kenya Power manager, heavy rains and floods have disrupted electricity supply in the county.

"The power network has terribly been weakened following the heavy rains the county has been receiving continuously for almost the last one year," said Mr Omwenga. He was responding to the complaints from the residents.

"The ground is soaked and the rate of rotting of wooden poles is very high. Poles are coming down one by one almost on a daily basis. As a result, trees are growing fast due to favourable weather and have encroached into wayleaves, thus interfering with power lines," he said.