Kenya is grappling with its third nationwide blackout in as many months, with the power outage affecting large parts of the country, including the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. The blackout, which began around 8 pm local time, is attributed to a “system disturbance,” according to state-run Kenya Power. Technicians are working to restore normalcy, but the outage has left key establishments paralyzed.
This incident marks the third national power supply failure in three months. Kenya Power has been accused of poor service delivery and corruption, contributing to soaring electricity costs in the country. The utility company holds a monopoly on the supply and distribution of electricity.
The latest blackout comes just a month after engineers took more than 12 hours to restore power in most parts of Kenya during a similar incident. In August, Kenya experienced the longest disruption in its history, lasting nearly 24 hours in some areas. The cause of that massive blackout, considered the worst in Kenya’s history, remains a mystery, although the power company attributed it to a failure at Africa’s largest wind farm.
The frequent blackouts have sparked frustration among Kenyans, who took to social media to demand answers and expressed dissatisfaction with Kenya Power’s performance. Some compared the situation unfavorably to countries like Nigeria and South Africa, where load shedding is more common.
Kenya Power issued a statement apologizing to customers for the inconvenience and assured them that technicians were working to resolve the issue and restore electricity to affected areas as quickly as possible. The challenges facing the country’s power infrastructure highlight the need for improvements to ensure a reliable and stable electricity supply.
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