Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has called on EPRA and the Ministry of Energy to lower electricity tariffs in informal settlements.
The mover which will curb recurrent cases of fire outbreaks in such places, will also cut down the issue of illegal power connections.
Sakaja was speaking after visiting Kibera where eight people died and many families were left homeless following a deadly inferno that rocked the area.
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Preliminary investigation into the incident revealed that the cause of the inferno could be due to illegal electricity connections even though the investigation is still ongoing.
“The common strand in all these fires is energy-related. Most are caused by illegal connections using substandard cables and equipment,” he said.
“I’ve had discussions with the Energy CS. These illegal connections have been going on — if you can’t beat them, join them.
I urged the Energy CS to find the suppliers of these illegal connections, reduce their electricity tariffs, and equip them with the tools needed to distribute power safely,” he continued
The Nairobi Governor was speaking days after another fire rocked Mathare B slums claiming five lives including those of two children.
In his speech, Sakaja noted that the issue of fires in the areas could one day turn out to be a full humanitarian crisis thus the need to make electricity affordable to residents.
“If we don’t lower electricity tariffs in informal settlements, we will continue having fires every day. In January alone, we recorded 70 fire incidents.
We need to adopt globally recognised models of social electricity connections. Let’s come up with a more sustainable approach.” he said
