NAIROBI, Kenya — Tens of thousands of Kenyan households and businesses remain without electricity despite having paid billions of shillings to be connected to the national grid, an audit by the Auditor-General has revealed.
The report shows that customers had paid Sh12.7 billion for electricity connections by June 2025, but a significant number of the projects have either not started or are severely delayed, locking consumers out of power supply and denying Kenya Power expected revenue.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu disclosed that 12,995 connection projects valued at Sh1.24 billion had not commenced at all, while a further 3,593 projects worth Sh1.9 billion were behind schedule.
A detailed review found that 7,740 projects, representing customer contributions of Sh877.8 million, were yet to begin, leaving customers without electricity long after making payments.
Another 5,255 projects, paid for between one and six years ago and valued at Sh366.7 million, had also not been initiated by the end of June last year.
“These delays deny customers electricity supply as well as revenue to the company,” Gathungu said.
The stalled projects are in breach of Kenya Power’s customer charter, which requires new connections to be completed within seven to 28 days.
The audit further flagged 3,427 projects valued at Sh963 million that have remained under implementation for periods stretching up to 29 years.
Kenya Power has already invested Sh564.6 million in these long-running projects.
Management attributed the delays to several factors, including shortages of materials, wayleave acquisition challenges, project redesigns, customer abandonment, premises not being ready, and requests for refunds or transfers to other sites.
The Sh12.724 billion in paid but incomplete connections forms part of Sh23.46 billion worth of projects listed as under execution.
According to the audit, nearly a quarter of these projects by value have either stalled or failed to start, including 166 connections worth Sh937.9 million that have been pending for up to 13 years.
Gathungu also faulted Kenya Power for weak project oversight, noting the absence of regular progress monitoring, root cause analysis, and corrective action plans.
“The prolonged delays are eroding the value of funds already paid and jeopardising the company’s ability to meet its operational targets,” the Auditor-General warned.
