Machakos county verifying electricity meters to curb fraud

Machakos,

Thursday November 30, 2023

KNA by Anne Kangero

The Machakos government has conducted a meter audit and verification exercise so as to validate the legitimate electricity meters registered under the county.

The findings of the audit confirmed 383 account meters that were physically verified with a debt of over Sh65 million, while 487 account meters were not verified with a debt of more than 29 million.

The County Executive for Lands, Housing, Urban development and Energy Nathaniel Nganga said some of the county bills from the Kenya Power Company (KPC) were being incurred by other parties, thus bringing forth high electricity bills.

Speaking at the county Land offices in Machakos town, Nganga lamented that “There were institutions that are siphoning power from our meters and we are being levied for their consumption.”

For instance, he cited some meter that was stolen at the Tala bus park and though the incident was reported, the meter number is being actively used somewhere else in Machakos county.

He added that there were 19 meter numbers in Mwala constituency with an outstanding bill of Sh2million that were being used by the local National Government Constituency Fund (NG-CDF), but billed to the county.

Nganga noted that as a result, they have instructed power company to disconnect 442 meter numbers that had not been verified during the meter audit, so they can reduce on the soaring electricity bills in the county.

 “I have written to various government agencies that have taken advantage of our power connections and we have given them one-month notice to apply for their own power connections after which we shall disconnect them,” warned Nganga.

At the same time, the County Executive appealed to members of the public to give any vital information on stolen meters because they had realized that many meters had been stolen and were in private use, yet the bills were being marked to the county.

“After stealing the meters some of them are being used in posho mills, light industries, while are others in private establishments, but we have not been able to find their exact locations,” he said.

Nganga decried that there were numerous meters being issued under the name of the county government without prior authorization, warning that anyone applying for power connection for any government project must first get concurrence from the office.

However, he noted that as a county they have since embraced a cheap and clean energy programme, dubbed Solar Mulika Mwizi in at least every market per ward.

Nganga said that progressively they will convert all their flood lights and street lights into solar power so that they cut down on costs.

Courtesy; KNA