Angry Mandera residents take to the streets to protest prolonged power outages

Mandera residents staged protests for the second day due to prolonged power outages in the county.

Demonstrators disrupted traffic and movement in Mandera town, burning tyres on the roads, which caused heavy smoke in the area. Large stones were also placed on highways as residents chanted slogans against the Kenya Power Company (KPLC), demanding its exit from the county.

Since the beginning of Ramadan, residents have faced severe challenges due to the lack of electricity. Many have been forced to cross into Bula Hawa in neighbouring Somalia to buy ice to cool their drinks.

However, the available supply from Bula Hawa is insufficient for the more than 200,000 people living in Mandera.

With Ramadan being a month of night prayers, residents have had to conduct prayers in darkness as mosques lack lighting.

The ongoing power crisis has been worsened by the extreme heat in Mandera, where residents rely on cooling systems such as fans and air conditioners, all of which remain non-functional due to the lack of electricity.

Communication has also been affected as people struggle to charge their phones.

These difficulties have led residents to take to the streets, demanding immediate action not only from Kenya Power but also from their elected leaders, whom they are urging to put more pressure on the power company to resolve the crisis.

The power outages have persisted for five months, with residents repeatedly seeking answers from KPLC through their leaders.

Several Members of Parliament from the region have previously promised to provide diesel generators to supplement the power supply, but no concrete action has been taken, leaving residents in darkness for extended periods.

Mandera Governor Mohamed Adan has described the situation as critical, particularly given the ongoing heatwave and the hardships residents are facing during Ramadan.

Generator breakdowns

"While generator breakdowns are inevitable, Kenya Power should have implemented adequate contingency measures to handle such failures," he said.

Providing an update on the power situation, the governor stated that KPLC operates five generators at the Mandera station with a total capacity of 3.1 MW.

However, three of these generators are non-functional. Car and General has been contracted to repair them. The two remaining generators are only supplying 900 KW instead of the expected 1.3 MW.

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Mandera town requires 4.5 MW of electricity, yet only 1.6 MW is currently available. Some areas experience power outages lasting up to 48 hours.

The governor has called for immediate action from KPLC to resolve the issue.

"It is unacceptable for our people to endure such hardship, including queuing for ice cubes outside Bula Hawa," he said.

According to Governor Adan, despite repeated engagements with KPLC, the responses have been mere promises without concrete solutions.

During his visit to Mandera last month, President William Ruto acknowledged the region's electricity challenges and pledged to connect the town to Ethiopia's power supply. This, he said, would be more feasible than linking Mandera to Kenya's national grid, given its distance from Nairobi and other major towns already connected.

For now, Mandera residents continue to endure power shortages, with no clear timeline for a lasting solution.