MPs have threatened to initiate the process of impeaching Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi and Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo after they skipped a crucial meeting.
The duo was a no-show at a meeting meant to resolve the failure to release Sh30 billion to Kenya Power and Lighting for the Rural Electrification Scheme (RES).
The National Assembly’s Public Investment Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy accused Mr Mbadi and Dr Kiptoo of contempt of Parliament and warned that it will lead to the collection of signatures in a process to impeach the two top Treasury officials.
The National Assembly during a past session.
Photo credit: File I Nation Media Group
Committee chairperson and Pokot South MP David Pkosing said Mr Mbadi and Dr Kiptoo have been snubbing meetings called by the Senate and the National Assembly.
“Mr Mbadi has had a record of skipping meetings of the Senate. I hope he will not have that bad record with the National Assembly,” Mr Pkosing said.
“The public in rural areas are not getting electricity services because of the National Treasury's laxity. We are not taking this matter lightly. Impeachment is not far-fetched. We need to teach the Treasury a lesson.”
The meeting was to resolve delays in the release of pension to employees who retired from the Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC), Kenya Cooperative Crinieres (KCC), and former councillors.
Mr Mbadi and Dr Kiptoo yesterday skipped the round table meeting with the Ministry of Energy, the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC), the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (Rerec), and Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra).
The committee was forced to adjourn its sittings after rejecting an explanation by Mr Michael Gagika, the Director Pensions, that Dr Kiptoo was out of Nairobi attending to other official duties and could not make it to the meeting.
The committee had invited Mr Mbadi, Dr Kiptoo, Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi, Energy Principal Secretary Alex Wachira, Kenya Power Managing Director Joseph Siror, Epra Director General Daniel Kiptoo, and Rerec Chief Executive Rose Mukalama to the round-table meeting.
Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group
The meeting was to resolve the Sh30 billion debt owed to Kenya Power and the 56 stalled mini-grids that were developed by Rerec and handed over to the electricity distributor more than three years ago.
Kenya Power is owed Sh30 billion by the Ministry of Energy and the Treasury for provision of subsidised power under the Rural Electrification Scheme (RES) which the utility firm administers on behalf of the government.
RES is funded by the national government and implemented by Kenya Power on behalf of the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum.
The schemes under RES are considered sub-economic, given that their operational and maintenance costs exceed their revenues, and it was agreed that the government will reimburse Kenya Power any deficit arising from the Scheme.
The resultant accumulated deficit is recoverable from the government as stipulated in the 1973 Mercado Agreement signed between KPLC and the government through the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum.
Attempts by Mr Wachira to have the meeting proceed without Dr Kiptoo flopped after Mr Pkosing rejected an explanation that they had had a conversation and agreed on how to resolve the Sh30 billion that the government owes Kenya Power.
“If you have agreed, why are we here? We called this roundtable meeting to help you resolve an audit query raised by the Auditor-General who raised outstanding receivables from the government amounting to Sh30 billion as at June 30, 2023, relating to the management of the Rural Electrification Scheme,” Mr Pkosing said.
Committee vice chairperson John Ariko (Turkana South), members David Kiplagat (Soy), Paul Katana (Kaloleni), Adan Keynan (Eldas), and Esther Pasaris (Nairobi Women Representative) demanded that the Treasury officials be shown the door until Dr Kiptoo is present in the meeting.
“I have perused a one-page response and found it condescending. How does the National Treasury say the Rural Electrification Program was launched in 1973 to extend electricity to rural areas that were not commercially viable?” Mr Katana asked.
“This is a continuation of marginalisation that was perpetuated through Sessional Paper No 10 of 1965.”
In his written response to the committee, Dr Kiptoo said the funding model of the RES has been changing and currently financed annually where electricity tariff provides revenues of Sh2.5 billion per year, annual exchequer funding of about Sh0.8 billion, and pass-through of the current annual deficit amounting to Sh5.6 billion.
“The above mechanisms have reduced the RES deficit to Sh25.33 billion and subsequently stopped the accumulation of the same,” Dr Kiptoo said,” Dr Kiptoo said.
“The National Treasury proposes that this can be amortized over a five-year period as a pass-through. It may not be feasible to provide this amount through the national budget due to tight fiscal space.”
