JKIA hit by another blackout as country plunges into darkness
The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. KAA says only Terminal 1A and 1E at the airport were affected by a power outage on Sunday evening, December 10.
The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) was at pains to explain why the country's biggest airport was still unable to automatically switch to a back-up power supply as the country was plunged into darkness on Sunday evening when several parts of the country experienced a power outage.
This was despite KAA saying that only terminals 1A and 1E at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) were affected by the blackout. "No runway lights were affected during take-offs and landings," KAA said.
The latest outage comes just days before Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport Kipchumba Murkomen is set to release a report on an investigation of the state of Kenya's airports.
Last month, the CS formed an 11-member committee to investigate the state of the country’s airports and make recommendations within 28 days.
Speaking after a tour of JKIA in Nairobi, Mr Murkomen said the team had been mandated to identify immediate remedial measures to improve facilities and passenger comfort at JKIA, Wilson and Moi International Airport in Mombasa.
"The experience over the past few months has raised questions about the state of our airport infrastructure facilities and I have therefore formed a technical committee to investigate the state of our airports," he said.
He added that the terms of reference will be to access the state of infrastructure facilities, access the state of electro-mechanical facilities, review the work carried out by contractors over the last two years and identify immediate remedial action to be taken.
The country has experienced a number of nationwide blackouts, including one on August 26 that lasted for more than 20 hours, with supply in some regions going on and off.
