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The government plans to connect at least 10 million customers to the electricity grid by the year 2025, the Principal Secretary in the State Department for Energy under the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum Alex Wachira has revealed.

He said about 9,765,000 million Kenyans were already connected to the power grid as the Ministry was working to connect more than 25,000 Kenyans by next year as the country gradually moves towards attaining 100 per cent electricity connectivity The by the year 2030.

“Right now we are at 9.7 million customers who are already connected to electricity. Next year we are hoping to cross the 10 million mark in terms of connectivity, “said Wachira.

The PS spoke in Gikamba sub-location, Kieni Nyeri county where he supervised the implementation of the last mile connectivity programme by the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC).

During the exercise, about 314 homes were connected with electricity with Wachira terming the commissioning as the perfect Christmas gift for the residents who have not had electricity for more than 50 years.

“This is a huge project as we are going to install five transformers covering the entire Gikamba location and serve over 300 households, “said the PS.

Wachira said that through the last mile programme, REREC has connected about 800,000 Kenyans with power in the last two years. The PS added that the Ministry is on course insuring that it transforms the lives of more Kenyans by bringing electricity closer to the people.

“Electricity is an enabler. For instance, with this connection, the people can now set up small businesses such as posho mills welding businesses, barber shops and many more and that is what we call Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, “he said.