‘I don’t know if we’ve reached the point where, after consuming electricity and being asked to pay, you respond by bringing filth and dumping it at the door. This should not happen at all. It’s a criminal act. CS, why are you entertaining this? You shouldn’t. No one is above the law,’ said Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka to Energy CS Opiyo Wandayi.’
Lawmakers are now calling for the arrest of Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja and Nairobi City County officials who authorised the dumping of heaps of rubbish at the entrance of Kenya Power’s offices amid their ongoing financial dispute. Some MPs went as far as proposing that Nairobi be placed under military management, reminiscent of the Nairobi Metropolitan Services era.
The lawmakers, who sit on the Energy Committee chaired by Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka, labelled Sakaja and his team as criminals who must be held accountable for their actions. During a meeting with Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi, the lawmakers urged the CS not to engage with Sakaja on the matter, arguing that it is a criminal issue. Instead, they insisted it should be reported to the police, compelling the governor to provide a statement.
“I don’t know if we’ve reached the point where, after consuming electricity and being asked to pay, you respond by bringing filth and dumping it at the door. This should not happen at all. It’s a criminal act. CS, why are you entertaining this? You shouldn’t. No one is above the law,” Musyoka said. “Why should we have governors stealing billions of shillings and then refusing to pay for the electricity they’ve used? We’re telling you, if they refuse to pay, go to their offices and disconnect their power,” the Mwala lawmaker added.
Nambale MP Geoffrey Mulanya told Wandayi not to negotiate with criminals. He remarked, “Why should you negotiate with criminals for doing your job? What you should do is ensure that this governor, who is a criminal, is held accountable.”
Committee vice-chairperson and Narok East MP Lemanken Aramat argued that Kenya Power deserves respect, as it is not a political entity. Gem MP Elisha Odhiambo suggested that Nairobi should be governed by the military, claiming they are best suited to restore order in the county. “We shouldn’t hold elections in Nairobi. Let’s have elections in 46 counties and allow the military to take over Nairobi County so we can have order,” he said.
Embakasi North MP James Gakuya rebuked Sakaja for authorising the waste dumping, urging him instead to settle the pending bills owed to Kenya Power by the county. These sentiments emerged just hours after Wandayi revealed that his efforts to have the rubbish removed had been ignored, despite Kenya Power not owing Nairobi City County Government anything. Wandayi, who confirmed he had instructed Kenya Power to report the matter to the police, stated that the Nairobi City County Government owes Kenya Power KSh 2.95 billion in unpaid bills.
He described it as regrettable that the county had resorted to dumping rubbish, even though Kenya Power had, on Friday, postponed its decision to cut off the county’s power supply after an agreement to pay KSh 150 million towards settling part of the debt. “I spoke with Governor Sakaja yesterday on the phone. I urged him to restore normalcy so we could sit down and resolve issues amicably, and he assured me he would. However, as of now, nothing has happened,” Wandayi said.
He also refuted claims by the Nairobi City County Government that Kenya Power had not paid wayleave charges. Nairobi County had demanded KSh 5.13 billion from Kenya Power for outstanding wayleave fees in the city. “Nairobi City County Government alleges that Kenya Power hasn’t paid for wayleaves for energy infrastructure, though this is unrelated to the current issue. I’d like to clarify that, under the Energy Act 2013, no public body can impose levies on infrastructure without approval from the CS for Energy, and no such consent has been granted,” Wandayi explained.
The lawmakers’ decision came less than a day after the county dumped heaps of rubbish at the entrance of Kenya Power’s Stima Plaza headquarters in Nairobi and clamped company vehicles, following the utility’s disconnection of power over a KSh 3.1 billion unpaid bill. The county also cut off water to various Kenya Power facilities, including Stima Plaza, and blocked sewer lines. In addition to the rubbish dumping, county officials clamped and towed 10 company vehicles.
