The Transport Ministry has ordered a contractor hired to fix a backup power generator at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi to complete the works to prevent further disruptions due to power outages.
Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said that the contractor had delayed concluding the repair works, leaving travellers at risk of inconvenience due to the power outage.
“Regarding the recent power outage that took between eight and 20 minutes to resolve, the contractor has taken a long time to ensure an immediate changeover to the standby generator when there is such a blackout. Twenty seconds can be excusable, but not 20 minutes. We want an automatic changeover,” Mr Murkomen told the media during a briefing at Ukunda Airport in Kwale.
Pressure has mounted on the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) to explain why the country’s biggest airport still cannot automatically switch on to backup power, hurting the image and standing of the JKIA.
The KAA said it took up to 20 minutes, between 8pm and 8:20pm, to restore power at JKIA following a blackout on Saturday night. The outage affected immigration and baggage handling operations. The agency added that the synchronisation of the outstanding backup power supply is scheduled to be completed in the next 30 days.
Kenya has experienced several blackouts, including one on August 26 that lasted 20 hours, with supply in some regions going on and off.
The incident saw operations at JKIA come to a standstill, a move that saw Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen fire former KAA managing director Alex Gitari and reshuffle airport managers across the country to fix the problem.
The loss in power across several parts of Kenya also saw lawmakers summon Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir and Kenya Power CEO Joseph Siror.
The August blackout followed another one in March which Kenya Power attributed to system disturbance.
In November and December 2022, Power outages hit the Mount Kenya, Nairobi, and Coastal regions. Kenya Power attributed the blackout to system disturbance again.
