President William Ruto has ordered the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum CS Davis Chirchir to lower the prices of electricity.
A Cabinet dispatch capturing the directives was sent to newsrooms moments after a press briefing by State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohammed which followed an emergency Cabinet meeting convened by the Head of State at State House.
The Cabinet expressed that hydro-generated power production had improved by over 20 percent which was attributed to the ongoing heavy rainfall witnessed across various parts of the country.
“Cabinet directed the Ministry of Energy & Petroleum, in consultation with all agencies within the sector, to give priority to maximum production, uptake and distribution of hydro-generated power.
The Cabinet wants power prices reduced as Fuel Cost Charge has gone down by five per cent.
Fuel Cost charge is the added cost or rebates to the consumers as a result of fluctuations in world prices as well as fluctuations in the quantity of oil consumed by electricity generation.
According to Kenya Power and Lighting Company, the Fuel Cost Charge lags one month behind the actual price of the fuel.
The spokesperson further indicated that the distribution of the electricity should reflect the adoption of hydro-generated power to the consumer as well as the decrease of between 15 per cent and 10 percent of diesel-generated power, considered more expensive.
In recent months, Kenyans have been reeling under increased electricity charges alongside a rising cost of living.