The project currently covers Lokichar and Kalemung’orok towns but plans are underway to extend it to Lodwar and other towns in the county.[Photo/ PSCU]
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday commissioned a mega electricity project that connects Turkana County to the national grid, boosting the residents’ access to reliable and affordable electricity for the first time in history.
The Kshs 1.69 billion Lokichar sub-station electricity project, implemented through the Rural Electrification Authority, is an initial step towards providing sufficient energy for sustained development in line with the Jubilee’s development agenda for the vast arid county that was neglected by previous regimes.
The project currently covers Lokichar and Kalemung’orok towns but plans are underway to extend it to Lodwar and other towns in the county.
Speaking when he commissioned the project, President Kenyatta said the residents of Turkana will no-longer operate under the darkness as they will also enjoy light just like their fellow Kenyans in other parts of the country.
“From now on there will be no darkness in Turkana, this morning we switched on a Government diesel powered generator in Kakuma and they will no-longer be paying Kshs 50 per day to people who privately-own diesel generators. They will instead only be charged Kshs 250 per month,” said President Kenyatta.
The President, who was accompanied by Deputy President William Ruto, pointed out that the commissioning of the project is another step towards lighting up the whole county of Turkana, saying soon Lodwar town will be connected to national grid thereby doing away with diesel powered generators.
“With this project in place, the perennial power blackouts will soon be a thing of the past. The residents will now enjoy electricity without experiencing outages,” said President Kenyatta.
Deputy President urged the locals to turn out in large numbers on August 8 and vote for Jubilee which has demonstrated its commitment to serving all Kenyans.
He castigated the opposition of trying to scuttle the election process through unnecessary court cases, saying their intention to force for a coalition government will not succeed.
“They first said they have no confidence with the commissioners, they forced them out of office, then they went to court to saying they have issues with BVR kits now am told they have gone to court again to challenge the process of election result transmission,” said the Deputy President.
The DP said Jubilee is ready for the August polls and they would not allow the opposition to derail the electoral process.
He challenged the judiciary to maintain and demonstrate its independence, saying Jubilee Party is not comfortable with some of the judgement passed which show open bias towards the opposition.
“What are we supposed to make when a bench is made up of people who have family connections with some of our competitors,” asked the Deputy President.
Jubilee gubernatorial aspirant John Munyes said he decided to defect from Ford Kenya as their national chairman because of what Jubilee had done for Turkana people.
“I left Ford Kenya as their national chairman after seeing the transformational agenda of the Jubilee Government and the projects implemented here in Turkana. For the first time we have witnessed major roads construction, electricity connections and improved health services under President Kenyatta’s Government” said Mr. Munyes.
Senate Speaker Ekwe Ethuro said Turkana residents will overwhelmingly vote for Jubilee because of the development they have witnessed.
“Last time we were on the opposite side with Munyes, today we are working together as a team, am very sure we will deliver 100 percent of the votes of this region” said Speaker Ethuro.
Other speakers included Jubilee aspirants Geoffrey Kaituko (senator) and Joyce Emanikore (Women Rep) among others.