This archive report was first published on 4 October 2019.
On October 4, 2019, the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (Rerec) announced new measures to regulate suppliers of poles.
Starting in November, suppliers will be required to demonstrate that they have planted at least double the number of trees felled to harvest the poles.
Chairman Simon Gicharu stated that the measures aim to prevent unscrupulous traders from cheating the system by registering firms under the youth and women category, while the beneficiaries of the 30% tenders set aside are not from within that bracket.
Mr. Gicharu expressed the agency's willingness to work with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to unmask fraudsters.
The board had previously met with a group of suppliers to discuss the new guidelines before their implementation.
Mr. Gicharu announced that the agency will work with the Ministry of Environment to plant two million trees by next year and will only accept poles from trees grown locally.
Many suppliers prefer importing poles from countries like South Africa, but the chairman stated that this was part of a deliberate push to support President Uhuru Kenyatta's legacy project on manufacturing.
Mr. Gicharu emphasized the importance of empowering local entrepreneurs and preventing the bleeding of the economy.
The parastatal is also in the process of procuring additional testing equipment to ensure that the poles meet the set quality standards.
