It was a black Tuesday yesterday as the country was plunged into darkness following a suspected case of vandalism which led to the collapse of a high-voltage power line.
The resulting countrywide power outage left crucial services disrupted leading to massive losses across the sectors.
Most Kenyans who engage in small businesses that operate without back-up generators saw perishable goods going to waste while casual labourers were sent home due to the power outage.
Although health providers reverted to using generators to run their services, they complained of incurring unexpected operational bills after being forced to buy diesel to enable them to preserve vaccines and other medicines.
Counties affected included Kisii, Lamu and Kisumu, the latter which recently installed a 300KV generator worth Sh8 million.
Kenya Power attributed the blackout which started at 10.45am to the collapse of masts supporting a high voltage power line connection to the Kiambere hydroelectric dam.
“We have lost power supply due to the collapsed tower on the Kiambere – Embakasi high voltage transmission power line at 10.45 am this morning,” said a statement from the power distributor.
Although the company said power supply had been restored in Nairobi, West Kenya, North Rift, South Nyanza and Central regions by afternoon, damage had already been done, with critical service providers reverting to back-up generators or closing their businesses.
In a statement, Kenya Power said the Suswa-Embakasi power transmission line that evacuates power to Athi River, Embakasi and City Centre developed a sustained fault in the evening.
“This has resulted in a power outage affecting sections of the Nairobi Central Business District, Embakasi, Kilimani, Hurlingham, Syokimau, Athi River, Kitengela, Mlolongo and adjacent areas,” said the statement by Kenya Power last evening.
