Government to Connect 7,377 Embu Households to Electricity in Sh805 Million Project
Expected to boost socio-economic development in Embu County upon its completion, the program will also bring the government close to achieving universal access to electricity throughout the country.
Mathai, Mianjatiri, and Kathuthiri are set to receive poles, cables, transformers, and conductors. Photo/Courtesy
By Ruth Sang
The government has now announced plans to connect 7,377 households in the Embu County to electricity in what has been described as a major rural electrification drive costing Sh805 million. It is still part of ongoing programs to ensure that the entire county has access to power and facilitate growth in the economy.
About half of that allocation, Sh336 million, will go to Mbeere North Constituency, one of the areas that have languished for many decades without any connection to electricity, even though it lies in close proximity to the Seven Forks Dams, which produce a considerable amount of nationally consumed hydroelectric power.
In presentation of results, the State Department for Energy stated that the planned investment in Mbeere North is meant to remedy historical inequalities in electricity access. “We have allocated Mbeere North Sh336 million this financial year to ensure we progressively move towards our target of universal access to electricity for the everybody, not only here but countrywide,” the official said.
Alex Wachira, Principal Secretary for the State Department for Energy, said that connections will fall within the government’s Last Mile Connectivity Programme. He noted that 2,450 households are earmarked for connection in the near future as phase one of this launch.
“We have placed the funds at hand and the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC) together with the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) have fast-tracked the procurements for the materials needed,” Wachira said.
“The electricity expansion program will trigger extensive activity across many parts of the country as the government speeds its pace toward establishing universal access to electricity,” he added. According to Wachira, such initiatives are a key component in the Kenya Kwanza administration’s Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), which identifies cheap and dependable electricity to be an engine for the growth of local enterprise and industry that elevate the living standards.
“Within the coming months, much of the country will be bustling with activities in terms of electricity connection, since this program is central to our goal of ensuring every household has access to power,” he said.
The project has included areas like Mathai, Mianjatiri, Kathuthiri, and others in Embu County, which will benefit by receiving infrastructure such as electricity poles, cables, transformers, and conductors to serve the new connections and make supply more reliable.
The officials from the Ministry of Energy, Kenya Power, and all other implementing agencies reiterated that the project will not only provide household access to electricity but also create opportunities for small businesses, improve security, and focus on education and health services.
Expected to boost socio-economic development in Embu County upon its completion, the program will also bring the government close to achieving universal access to electricity throughout the country.
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