Kenya Power Spills Tea On Nairobi County Dumping Waste At Offices Over Unpaid Billions
The standoff began at around 8.30 am on Monday, February 24 and saw the Nairobi City County accompanied by armed National Police Officers storm its headquarters at Stima Plaza and deny access to both its customers and members of staff.
Marvin Chege 
Following a fiery standoff outside the Nairobi offices of Kenya Power that saw the Nairobi County government dump waste outside the Stima Plaza gate, the monopoly power firm trading as KPLC on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) has given a blow-by-blow account of events leading to the morning clash.
As per a statement shared by Kenya Power and obtained by Viral Tea, the standoff began at around 8.30 am on Monday, February 24 and saw the Nairobi City County accompanied by armed police officers storm its headquarters at Stima Plaza and deny access to both its customers and members of staff.
The power firm then accused the county officers of unprecedentedly dumping a truckload of garbage at the main entrance of Stima Plaza and parking two other trucks filled with waste, effectively blocking three other entrances to the building.
"In addition, the officers clamped and towed 10 Kenya Power vehicles, as well as personal vehicles belonging to customers and staff that were parked in public parking spaces around Stima Plaza and Electricity House in Nairobi, despite having paid for the day's parking fees to the County. The officers also harassed and arrested several of our employees, resulting in injuries to some of them," stated Kenya Power in part.
Kenya Power Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Joseph Siror speaking during the company's annual general meeting on November 29, 2024. /KENYA POWER
In light of the events, Kenya Power revealed that the county has an outstanding debt owed to the power firm, which has accumulated over the years and currently stands at Ksh3 billion, a debt they worryingly stated had increased by Ksh1.3 billion in the last two years. However, it disclosed that it had consistently engaged the County Government on multiple occasions to resolve the matter and ensure the settlement of both the outstanding debt and current bills.
Furthermore, Kenya Power highlighted one of the most recent discussions that took place at Stima Plaza in December 2024, where Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, accompanied by members of the County Executive Committee, met with Kenya Power's leadership.
"During the meeting, the Governor committed that the County Government will be paying Ksh60 million in respect to the old debt and an additional Ksh50 million as payment for the current bill, every month. In January 2025, the County paid Ksh36 million, which was significantly below the expected Ksh330 million required to cover the bills for November 2024, December 2024, and January 2025," added the statement.
"On 20th January 2025, we issued a letter reminding the County Government to honour its commitment and settle the outstanding balance due as of that date. Despite multiple follow-ups through various channels, our efforts to resolve the matter remained unfruitful."
Kenya Power then revealed that after exhausting all avenues to recover the outstanding debt as outlined in the Energy Act 2019, it proceeded to disconnect the power supply to several county facilities on February 14, 2025. "However, we received a letter from the County on Friday, 21st February 2025 informing us that they had initiated a payment of Ksh133 million, pending approval. Based on this commitment, we restored electricity supply to all affected facilities on the same Friday afternoon," added the statement.
The statement then went to call out officers from the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company, who on the same evening and acting under what Kenya Power claimed were instructions from the County government, disconnected water supply to Stima Plaza, Electricity House Nairobi, Parklands Substation, and Roysambu depot, as well as blocking the sewer lines at Stima Plaza and Electricity House, actions Kenya Power said were taken even though there are no outstanding water bills associated with these premises.
"In view of the above, we wish to state that the Company's business operations are guided by applicable laws, which also inform its dispute resolution mechanisms with all customers and stakeholders. It is, therefore, regrettable that the Nairobi City County Government chose to engage with us through such unethical, unprofessional, and unlawful actions," Kenya Power slammed the county government.
"On the claim that we owe the County money arising from wayleaves charges, we wish to state that Section 223 of the Energy Act, 2019 expressly states that "No public body shall charge levies on public energy infrastructure without the consent of the Cabinet Secretary in writing"."
Governor Johnson Sakaja's administration on its part stated that the decision to dump the waste was also intended to pressure Kenya Power into settling its outstanding fees owed to the county. County Secretary Godfrey Akumali explained that Kenya Power had unpaid dues for land rates and wayleaves.
"In the same way, they ask the rest of us to pay electricity bills, they have a duty and responsibility to pay to the Nairobi County for the services we offer them, including the services of wayleaves and land rates," he stated, adding "The dispute between us is not unknown to them. The county can take any measure it deems fit to compel the client to pay the levies."
