The Members of the Kenyan Parliament are currently investigating the contracts of eighteen Independent Power Producers (IPPs). The comes as the Parliament is also investigating the high cost of electricity tariffs in the country. State-owned distribution company Kenya Power has yielded to pressure and furnished the Parliament with the details of the contracts signed between Kenya Power and the IPPs.
The documents were delivered to Parliament on Wednesday, and copies of the contracts were also handed over to the office of the Auditor-General for review. The Auditor-General is expected to prepare a report and present its findings to the Parliament’s Public Investments Committee, chaired by MP Abdulswamad Nassir.
The Chairman of the Committee had on Thursday confirmed receipt of the contracts from Kenya Power. ”The contracts have been brought, but they have been accompanied by the confidential note clause, and therefore we cannot make them public”, MP Nassir said.
Speaking on the tariffs in his appearance at the Public Investments Committee, the Kenya Power Managing Director Bernard Ngugi, stated that he would need a court order and consent from the contractors to make the contracts public. He added that the tariffs are calculated depending on the plant’s technologies, the generation source and type.