President Uhuru Kenyatta. [Photo/PSCU]
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday met energy sector drivers from the public sector as part of focusing on improved service delivery to bring better lives.
Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter told the President in a briefing at Harambee House that the new 20-inch 450-km oil pipeline from Mombasa to Nairobi was 97 per cent complete, and could be commissioned as early as Christmas.
The pipeline will ease traffic on the Mombasa-Nairobi road, as well as significantly improve supplies and stability in Nairobi and Kisumu and their environs.
“This will have a great impact. It will ease congestion on Mombasa-Nairobi highway and ensure we have very stable petroleum cover,” CS Keter said during the briefing.
CS Keter also said plans to roll out low-cost liquid petroleum gas (LPG) were at a very advanced stage, and a target launch also of Christmas.
This will also increase penetration of alternative forms of energy to charcoal and kerosene which government wants to phase out in the long-term.
The President was also briefed on the work on infrastructure around the oil fields in Turkana, including road repairs and the fixing of the damaged Kainuk bridge.
CS Keter’s team included Principal Secretaries Eng Joseph Njoroge (Energy) and Andrew Kamau (Petroleum), and the CEOs of transmission firm Ketraco, geothermal agency GDC, generator Kengen and distributor Kenya Power.