During a presentation of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s achievements at the Jamhuri (Independence) Day celebrations on Sunday, December 12, 2021, the Kenyatta administration’s efforts in enhancing electricity accessibility was said to have placed Kenya atop the continent’s rank of new electricity connections.
This claim was also made at the state of the nation address on November 30, 2021, where President Kenyatta said;
“I am proud to report that we have connected more homes to power than any other country in Africa, in just 8 years.”
Piga Firimbi found that, YES, Kenya indeed leads not only in the continent but also in the world in terms of new electricity connections. This was also reported on local media in July 2021 after the Energy Progress Report was released.
The report indicates that Kenya leads in the rate of increased access to electricity by 5.6%.
However, this report features findings for the period between 2010-2019 (see screen-grab below). Therefore Kenya’s position in regards to electricity connectivity is not solely an effort of Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration within 8 years, seeing as he became president in April 2013.
There is no other report stating that Kenya has had the highest rate of electricity connectivity in Africa.
President Kenyatta’s claim that his administration has connected the most homes in Africa to electricity in “just 8 years” is MISLEADING.
The achievements showcased at the Jamhuri Day celebrations were similar to those highlighted at President Kenyatta’s eighth state of the nation address. False figures comparing the total electricity capacity in Kenya since 2013 were repeated.
Piga Firimbi found the claim that the total electricity capacity when Uhuru Kenyatta took office in 2013 was 1,300 megawatts(MW) and has doubled to 2,600 megawatts during his administration to be FALSE. The numbers recently declared also contradict one of Uhuru’s previous speeches as is discovered on the fact-check published here.
According to the 2021 Economic Survey, the current electricity capacity in Kenya is 2,836.7MW.
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