Kenya Power is on the spot for allegedly disconnecting power for a Nyeri customer over a bill owed by his brother.
The customer who identified himself as Richard (Ngure) says that he was shocked to see Kenya Power engineers disconnect his power, despite having no pending bills. Upon inquiry, he was told that the move was as a result of his brother’s unpaid bill of Ksh133,000.
“I am located in Nyeri County, Tetu sub-county. Yesterday during morning hours staffs (workers) from KPLC Nyeri came and disconnected my line.I asked them why to disconnect and i have no bill unsettled. They gave me a simple but annoying answer: Your brother have a bill amounting Ksh133,000. For him to pay the amount we have to disconnect your line so that you pressure him to pay the bill (sic),” wrote Ngure on Kenya Power’s Facebook page.
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On visiting Kenya Power’s offices in Nyeri, he was told that this was Kenya Power’s new policy.
“Today (Tuesday, January 25, 2022) I went to customer service desk in Nyeri town Diana plaza desk number 2. I submitted my complaints to the staff who was a lady. Here is the answer she gave me: This is the new law KPLC (Kenya Power) is using. I asked the lady whether it is fair for me to suffer or rather to lack the light because my brother have a bill and we don’t share the same account. She didn’t answer me the question. Remember I have no bill with you (KPLC). Please advice what to do because as we speak I have lost 220 chicks in brooder,” he said.
In a recent public announcement, Kenya Power said that it would conduct a countrywide disconnection for customers with electricity bills, although there was no indication that it would touch on relatives.
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“Kenya Power wishes to inform its customers that teams from the Company will conduct a countrywide disconnection of all accounts in arrears. Customers with arrears on their bills are advised to urgently settle the outstanding amounts to avoid supply disconnection,” the notice read in part.
As of December 2021, Kenya Power had Ksh15 billion in bad debts from unpaid electricity bills, most of which had been outstanding for more than three months.
The amount stood at Ksh29.6 billion as at June 2021, according to the company annual report.
Households or domestic power users top the list of defaulters with about 60 percent of the outstanding bills among domestic customers, 20 percent SMEs and 10 percent commercial.
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