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Lawmakers have summoned Energy Principal Secretary Alex Kamau and his Petroleum counterpart Mohammed Liban over frequent power outages and the controversial Sh17 billion oil saga.

Members of Parliament are also set to meet Anne Njeri Njoroge, the businesswoman who is allegedly behind the controversial multi-billion shilling oil consignment, to shed more light on how the deal was crafted.

The MPs who sit in the departmental committee on Energy chaired by Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka, warned that should Njoroge fail to avail herself, they will take action. She has not honoured two previous invites.

The committee directed Clerk of the National Assembly Samuel Njoroge to demand for medical records and evidence to prove that Njoroge was unwell after she failed to appear before it during the last sitting.

They also directed the Clerk to get in touch with her and ensure they produce her before the committee in their next sitting.

“The Committee takes exception to your failure to honour its invitations on the two occasions. Nonetheless, the Committee is scheduled to meet you on Monday 18th December, 2023 at 10.00 am in the Mini-Chamber County Hall, Parliament Buildings for you to submit the requested information and respond to any other issues that may be raised during the meeting. Be advised that failure to appear before the Committee this time may result in summons for your appearance being issued in line with National Assembly Standing Order 191(1) (a) and (b),” reads a letter sent to her dated December 7.

During today’s meeting, Kamau and Liban are expected to explain the cause of the nationwide power outage that occurred on December 10 as well as on the night of August 24th/25th August, and November 11.

The duo will also be expected to highlight the actions initiated by the Ministry to ensure that the country gets reliable power supply given the impact of these outages on the economy.

 “The Committee would like to be apprised on the following aspects in respect of the outages: Status of investigation into the roles of various actors in the power generation, transmission and distribution chain in averting the situation, and the possibility of any acts of commission or omission on their part that may have caused the outages.”

The move comes hardly days after a nationwide power blackout hit the country on December 10 paralysing services across the country.

The outage began around 8 pm and was the third national power supply failure within the last three months.

Among the key establishments whose services were paralysed is the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), where the power generators failed to pick up yet again.

Following the move, the Cabinet chaired by President William Ruto directed the Ministry of Energy to deal with the continuous power failure.

Ruto who chaired the meeting said the frequent power losses were hurting the country’s investments and thus resolved that the transmission line system should be unbundled so that power failure in one part does not affect the entire country.

According to the Cabinet, the Bomet-Narok line will be built with €250 million (Sh37.5 billion) from the African Development Bank to deal with the overloading of transmission lines that cause outages.

Cabinet said the line, which was funded in 2016, has not been built due to legal disputes.

Additionally, a €57 million (Sh8.5 billion) KenGen solar power project at the Seven Forks Dam will safeguard against power failure.

The 42MW project has a huge battery storage, and the stored energy kicks in if power fails. Another benefit of the project is that this project helps save hydro-power at the five dams that make up the Seven Fork.