Koskei meets Sakaja, CS Wandayi as war with Kenya Power goes to court

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja revealed that City Hall’s commercial disputes, including the ongoing one with Kenya Power, will now be resolved directly with Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi.

He spoke after a meeting that was chaired by Head of Public Service Felix Koskei between him, Kenya Power officials and CS Wandayi.

He said that the warring bodies will now resolve matters amicably.

“We agreed that commercial disputes will be resolved between myself and Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi. The Inter-governmental technical committee will also come on board,” he said.

He also said he had directed that water supply be restored to Kenya Power offices and garbage trucks that were blocking access to their premises be removed, adding that it was not their intention to dump trash.

“It’s unfortunate that one of our trucks tipped garbage. That was not the intention. And that is why in less than 30 minutes all that garbage was collected. That’s not how Nairobi County operates,” Sakaja said.

Koskei said a clear wayforward was adopted and normalcy restored following the recent service disruptions between Kenya Power and the County.

Present at the meeting were Wandayi, Principal Secretary for ICT & the Digital Economy John Kipchumba Tanui, and Kenya Power Managing Director/CEO Eng. Dr. Joseph Siror.

KPLC moved to court over the issue.

A judge will decide whether she will issue orders compelling Nairobi county government to remove garbage trucks and restore water at Stima Plaza and other Kenya Power premises in the dispute over unpaid bills.

Justice Anne Omollo will give the directions after getting of brief on the outcome of a meeting.

KP and Kenya Power and Lighting Company Staff Retirement Benefits Scheme Registered Trustees rushed to court seeking orders to restore water and unblock the sewerage system at Stima Plaza, Electricity House among other premises.

The county government through lawyer Duncan Okatch maintained that the trucks were removed on Tuesday night and the meeting called by Kosgei would resolve the impasse.

KP accused the county government of dumping mountains of garbage at all the entrances to its headquarters at Stima Plaza occasioning massive pollution and restricting movements in and out of the building.

The power utility firm added that the county government officials confiscated its 10 motor vehicles without justification and unreasonably disconnected the water supply as well as blocked the sewer system to the premises yet all the water bills have been paid.

KP added that instead of settling the electricity bills of about Sh2.9 billion, which is due the county government resorted to dumping garbage at the entrance of Stima plaza and completely cutting off movement into the premises.

Through lawyer Nicole Kihara, KP said the county government had an outstanding electricity bill to the tune of Sh1.68 billion as of January 2025.

She said the amount was exclusive of another debt of Sh1.27 billion, which was pending verification and reconciliations.

Ms Kihara said the county government had acknowledged the debt in a letter on February 20, 2025, and undertook to settle the outstanding amounts, and KP reconnected power at City Hall.

The scheme, which owns the building, said KP was one of the many tenants at Stima Plaza and the dumping of toxic, hazardous and untreated garbage and waste materials at the entrance of the building was exposing tenants to health complications.

“The Respondents’ actions, which are extremely inhumane, have adversely exposed the over 4,000 Petitioner’s members of staff and the innocent tenants accommodated at the Petitioner’s premises as well as the general public to detrimental health complications,” the petition stated.

Armed police officers were deployed to Kenya Power and Lighting Company offices where a standoff with the Nairobi County officials had paralysed operations.

The officers facilitated the removal of the county lorries that had blocked roads to the Stima Plaza for two days affecting operations.

Kenya Power had asked staff to work from home, as their offices were rendered unbearable.

This is after the county government disconnected water supply to the building and blocked the sewer line in the ensuing standoff.

Raw sewerage was seen flowing outside the building in the chaos forcing the management to ask staff to stay away.

Other tenants there also stayed away on Monday and Tuesday.

Nairobi police boss George Sedah said they had been asked to help in removing the lorries from the scene.

He said they managed to clear the about five lorries that were used in blocking the roads.

He added they had deployed police at the scene as part of efforts to ensure safety of the tenants and locals.