The 15 documents all Kenya Power employees must submit to HR by Monday

All Kenya Power staff have been asked to submit personal details to HR including total wealth, 6-month bank and mobile money statements, and tax records for fresh vetting starting Monday.

In a Thursday, November 18, memo to all employees from the General Manager, HR and Administration, Cecilia Kalungu-Uvyu, the company said the details will be forwarded to the Kenya Power vetting team.

“All staff members are hereby notified and urgently required to provide the information listed in sealed envelopes addressed to ‘Head of KPLC Vetting Team’. The envelope shall also indicate the name and staff number of the employee, to be received at the 6th-floor boardroom, Stima Plaza, by close of business, Monday, 22nd November 2021,” said the HR boss.

“The staff members based in the regions shall submit the information to their respective regional human resource office, on or before the date indicated above. Staff members are assured that the provided information will be treated with utmost confidentiality, and in due regard to everyone's constitutional right.”

"Kenya Power has a staff complement of over 7,000 employees," the company says on its website.

Below are details required by the HR department to facilitate the staff vetting:

1.             Employment particulars of the officer (Full Names, Identity Card Number, Passport Number; Pin Number: Driving License Number; Mobile Telephone number; Daytime Telephone Number: Email).

2.             Residential address(es) of the officer and spouse(s) for the last 5 years; ownership status of current residence.

3.             Power/water meter numbers; any other utility account numbers.

4.             Current posting of officer: Employment; Job Group/Grade: list of previous deployments and number of years served per deployment; history of disciplinary cases; promotions received.

5.             Full Names and Identity Card numbers of immediate family members (spouse, children, dependents, parents, siblings, business associates; agents; or associations where the officer has a direct and indirect pecuniary (financial) or non-pecuniary (financial) interest.

6.             List of known companies and businesses owned or controlled by the officer or immediate family members that have had commercial dealings with KPLC.

7.             List of moveable and immovable assets owned/partly owned by the officer or the immediate family members, business associates or agents including data on acreage, location, and status (e.g. whether charged to financial institutions, joint ownership, allotment etc.) including dates of acquisition.

8.             Machinery, vehicles, and other assets where the officer has a beneficial interest.

9.             Stocks, shares and partnerships including investment groups of which the officer and spouse are members.

10.          Certified copies of bank statements of the officer and spouse for the last 6 months including any foreign accounts.

11.          Certified copies of mobile money statements of the officer and spouse for the last 6 months.

12.          Kenya Revenue Authority Income Tax Returns for the officer and the officer's companies/businesses for the last 3 years.

13.          Club Membership(s).

14.          Social media accounts/handles (Facebook, Twitter, lnstagram).

15.          List of liabilities (Including loans, mortgages, chattels, guarantees, school fees and school accounts; cumulative insurance policies; holidays).

“Please note that the above list is not conclusive and that you may be required to present additional information, as may be deemed necessary,” HR boss Kalungu-Uvyu said.

The fresh vetting comes on the back of investigations into Kenya Power’s finances, with the company announcing on November 3 that it had launched a probe into online scammers stealing the firm’s revenue through the sale of discounted pre-paid tokens.

Investigations unveiled a ring of fraudsters colluding with internal staff using a web of unidentified mobile numbers, to target unsuspicious customers through popular social media platforms including WhatsApp, Telegram, and Facebook.

Some were lured to fake websites with token offers at varied costs and were required to fill in their details, including electricity meter numbers exposing themselves to internet fraudsters.

Billions of shillings, the agency estimated, were being lost in the fraudulent activities.

On Wednesday, the troubled utility company's chairperson, Vivienne Yeda, told an investor briefing that Kenya Power won't shoulder the cost of cheap electricity on its own.

This comes as the government starts the process of reducing power costs, with Energy Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma giving independent power producers (IPPs) up to Friday to come to the negotiating table.

In September, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed the Ministry of Energy to reduce power tariffs by 33 per cent to an average of Sh16 per kilowatt-hour (kWh or unit) from the current Sh24 a unit.

Three weeks ago the company suspended 59 senior procurement employees as reforms at the troubled company started in earnest.

The electricity distributor said the affected staff, all senior members of its supply chain and logistics department, had been made to step aside, pending investigations into possible procurement malpractices that have threatened the sustainability of the company while exposing Kenyans to high power bills.

The move followed recommendations by a task force appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta in March to probe contracts between the utility firm and electricity generators.

The task force in its report fingered the procurement department as among the major problems afflicting Kenya Power.