Ruto’s Council of Economic Advisors David Ndii says that electricity prices will not go down anytime soon.
Ndii sentiments caused a buzz online after he said that kenyans have to choose between expensive electricity that is available all day or cheaper electricity available for only a few hours a day.
The economist's statement on Twitter reads “On power bills, we have two choices. Costly power is available 24/7, or cheap power is available a few hours a day, like in South Africa. If you cared to peruse our manifesto, you would have noted that cheap power does not feature in our pledges on electricity,”
“Bringing down the cost here refers to production costs, not tariffs. The listed are heavy medium-term capital investments that will not bring down tariffs anytime soon,” Ndii tweeted.
Did you read this?
Ndii emphasized that Ruto's manifesto did not promise cheap electricity, and the listed investments were medium-term and would not result in tariff reductions anytime soon. The ageing transmission and distribution network, he said, was a factor in the high cost of electricity.
Ruto promised to modernize the transmission and distribution network, accelerate the development of geothermal resources, and build a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) storage facility in Mombasa, which he claimed would reduce electricity costs.
The government has struggled to keep government spending under control, with Ruto's administration slashing KES 40.56 billion from the expenditure for power generation, transmission, and allocation in the supplementary budget.
Ndii's remarks sparked a social media debate, with several Kenyans calling for an effective solution to the soaring cost of electricity. he tried to respond to kenyans questions online to make them understand the issue.
Correct. Thats why our first objective is to turn around Kenya Power. The entire power sector depends on its P&L. A loss making KPLC is the recipe for SA style load shedding. As I said before its either costly power 24/7 or cheap power couple of hours a day https://t.co/gaHxCtu0KT
— David Ndii (@DavidNdii) February 23, 2023