This archive report was first published on 5 July 2019.
On Thursday, Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter commissioned a Sh178 million last mile connectivity project in Galole Constituency, Tana River County, as part of the government's Sh15 billion electricity connectivity programme.
The programme, which targets 14 counties, aims to provide electricity to villages and settlements through generators, solar and wind power, as well as the national grid.
Speaking in Watta village, Keter said the funds from the World Bank would see 100 households in Galole constituency connected to power within the next two weeks.
“We have received 150 million US Dollars to distribute electricity in 14 counties, Tana River County included,” he said.
The CS noted that the project was in line with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s desire to have all homes connected to power, and that the government aimed to ensure that between 80 and 90 percent of households in Tana River County get powered by 2022.
“In 2015, only six percent of the households in Tana River County had electricity, but that has now increased to 20 percent,” he said.
The project is being undertaken by the Kenya Power and the Kenya Rural Electrification Authority (REA), and is expected to improve the wellbeing of residents and enhance education through the Digital Literacy Programme.
