The Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General, Dr. Francis Atwoli has urged the National Assembly Committee on Energy to consider taming the Independent Power Producers (IPP’s) by revoking all the Power Purchase Agreements (PPA’s) for the well-being of workers and the sustainable economic development of the country.

In a meeting chaired by Hon. Vincent Musyoka, the Committee engaged with representatives of employers & workers, academia & sector experts and the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya.

Speaking during the meeting, Dr. Atwoli urged the Committee to find a way of relying on state owned power and only engage Independent Power Producers (IPPs) with better Power Purchase Agreements (PPA’s) when necessary.

“Revoke all PPAs that have been signed with various IPPs and renegotiate better contracts that are flexible and also provide for payment in Kenya Shillings. Further to this, the Government of Kenya must depend on KenGen and only engage IPP’s to supplement shortages,” said Dr. Atwoli.

According to Dr. Atwoli, affordable electricity will not only improve workers' livelihoods but also boost industrial competitiveness, foster job creation, and attract investments.

Dr. Atwoli also sought for the amendment of section 12 of the Energy Act (2019) to ensure that workers are represented on the EPRA Board of Directors to voice their concerns in regulatory decisions that affect energy pricing.

His sentiments were echoed by Kenya Union of Post Primary Education (KUPPET), Union of Kenya Civil Servants (UKCS), Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Kenya Medical Association (KMA) who submitted that the escalating cost of electricity in Kenya present a complex set of challenges for various stakeholders, led to increased financial burden to workers, reduced disposable income, decreased job satisfaction, limited their job mobility, increased operation expenses in hospitals and also led to significant morbidity and mortality rates occasioned by inability of patients to maintain their medication within the required temperature including diabetic patients. 

The Chairperson, Inter-Religious Council of Kenya (IRCK), Rev. Fr. Joseph Mutie on behalf of Supreme Council of Kenya (SUPKEM), Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), Hindu Council of Kenya (HCK) & Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA) observed that the Government should consider reducing by half all the levies and taxes on electricity, reduce monthly income loss from 19 percent to 10 percent and engage IPPS to re-negotiate the PPA’s to review power costing rates to KPLC.

Hon. Musyoka acknowledged that the Committee was aware of collusion by the Kenya Power staff, leading to unstructured contracts that mandates KPC to pay for the power that sometimes is not consumed and also engaged IPP’s that rely on foreign funding.

“We are also trying to see if people can invest in the Energy sector using Kenya currency because most IPP’s say they get credits from foreign countries using foreign currencies,” said Hon. Musyoka.