Coast based human rights group, Haki Africa has of late received complaints from individuals and the public in Mombasa, of exorbitant and exaggerated electricity bills by the Kenya Power Company.
In most cases, the bills are upto 10 times the usual monthly bills. Upon inquiry, the organisation said the electricity officials claim that previous bills have been estimates and the exaggerated bill is the real meter reading.
In a statement on Friday, the Hussein Khalid-led organisation condemned the exaggerated bills and demanded they be automatically disallowed.
"If the electricity officials fail to take monthly actual readings then it is not the consumers' fault. So there should be no lumping of huge electricity bills. Besides, even the monthly bills are already too high for the common mwananchi," said Haki Africa.
The exaggerated bills are coming at a time when Mombasa and Coast residents are already suffering high living standards with increased taxes and loss of jobs.
As an organisation, HAKI Africa demanded that immediate action be taken by the authorities to address this problem "failure to which, we will explore exercising our right under Article 37 of the Constitution to demonstrate and picket."
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