Let cheaper electricity light up rural homes

While commissioning the national schools electrification and the Last Mile Connectivity projects in Machakos County on Wednesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that Kenya Power had slashed the cost of electricity connection to the national grid from Sh35,000 to Sh15,000. That is a reduction of close to 50 per cent.

It was sweet news to millions of Kenyans in rural areas who only dreamt about having electricity, with little hope of seeing the light — so to speak — in their lifetime. The reduction in connection fees is part of the government’s strategy to light up 70 per cent of Kenyan homesteads by 2018.

Now, only about a third of the entire Kenyan population is connected to electricity, and the concentration is in urban areas. Owing to the exorbitant cost, it has been hard for those living in rural areas to access electricity, and even the few who are connected have had to wait for inordinately long periods of time.

Power connectivity will help reduce usage of firewood that will not only save, but hopefully increase, our forest cover that has been diminishing.

But as with all good things, there are challenges. Will Kenya Power meet the surge as more people apply for electricity connection?

And while the public takes the President on his word that those who cannot raise Sh15,000 at one go will be allowed to pay in instalments, the expectation is that Kenya Power will not shift goal posts to frustrate applicants living far from transformers.

Still, with power readily available in villages youth can now set up small businesses. The cottage industry will also benefit greatly from readily available energy.