By NYAMBEGA GISESA ngisesa@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Sunday, April 15 2012 at 00:39
Posted Sunday, April 15 2012 at 00:39
Major urban centres around the country were on Saturday night thrust into darkness following a major power blackout.
The blackout which started at around 9.45pm was still on as we went to press at 11 pm.
Kenya Power spokesman Migwi Theuri attributed the blackout to a short circuit on a high voltage line at the Juja substation in Nairobi.
The station is one of the major sources of power supply to the city and its environs.
Mr Theuri clarified that the outage had not affected the entire country but sections of major towns.
“It’s not true to say that the blackout is national; there is power in Mount Kenya region, western Kenya and parts of the city,” he said.
Kenya Power engineers were working to restore supply, he said, and added that the process was gradual.
A spot check by Sunday Nation around the country established that there was no electricity in major towns including Kakamega, Mombasa, Meru, Kisii, Eldoret, Thika, Nyamira, Kakamega, Kisumu and Kericho.
Callers from various parts of the country said that emergency lines of local Kenya Power offices were not working as they tried to establish the cause of the blackout.
“I have driven all the way from Ruiru to Nairobi CBD in a blackout and I am worried about what is going on,” a caller who identified himself as Daftul said.
“We had a friend’s wedding but the blackout has forced us to cut the ceremony short,” Mr Kaiser Ong’aro, a teacher in Meru, said.
In Mombasa, Ms Amina Abdalla said some businesses had been forced to switch to generators while others closed.
The Kenya Police Operations Department said they were monitoring the security situation countrywide.
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