All that power

"No one man should have all that power" - Kanye West

I was reminded of this song earlier today when I woke up to the news of yet another increase in the cost of electricity in Kenya. It has gone up to Kshs 8 per unit and reasons given are basically the weakening of the shilling which has driven petroleum costs up and the drought that saw shortage in electricity supply. I've b****ed about a lot of stuff, but this move by the power regulators will certainly take the cake. Why?

Electricity forms part of the basic basket for not only households but manufacturers. Unlike sugar and flour, this kind of increase affects ALL commodities. A rise in input costs certainly translates to an equal if not higher increase in that of the output...in Kenya anyway. All costs will be passed onto the consumers, as explicitly announced by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers last week. Which means that your current household budget -after weeks of adjusting- is STILL inadequate.

Due to over-reliance on hydroelectricity and diesel run generators, the energy sector is now looking into investing in wind, thermal and nuclear energy to meet consumer demand. What I don't understand is why they're not considering solar power...and why the hell nuclear energy is even on the list. Kenya lies along the equator hence receives sunlight for the most of the year. Solar panels are therefore our best fit. Greece manufactures them in the thousands of products. Given their current crisis, I'd say we have more bargaining power and could buy from them at a cheaper price. The EU is currently being wooed into investing in Greece's energy sector since it faces over 300 days of sunlight in a year...yet they ain't even along the equator like us!!

Fellow Kenyans, let us invest in solar panels now and take some weight off Kenya Power's shoulder.God knows we can't stand inefficiency coupled with increased charges.