County chiefs have renewed their calls to Kenya Power to pay for wayleave charges running into billions of shillings.

Wayleave is a right of way granted by a landowner in exchange for payment for purposes such as installing electricity wires or laying of pipes.

Governors said they are willing to pay Sh4.7 billion in electricity bills owed to the utility firm but on condition that the latter pay for wayleave.

Appearing before the Senate’s Energy Committee, chaired by Siaya lawmaker Oburu Oginga , the Council of Governors’ energy committee chairperson, Mahmoud Ali (Marsabit), said Kenya Power should pay wayleave charges.

Kenya Power, Ali claimed, owes Nairobi County Sh802 million, Kirinyaga County Sh192 million, and Machakos County Sh41 million in wayleave charges.

He told senators that the utility has been subletting its infrastructure to other entities, especially internet service providers, and are being paid for it, adding that such services should also be paid to the counties.

“Most counties are disputing the electricity bills that … Kenya Power … is claiming. [The company] is claiming Sh141 million from Machakos County,” he said.

“However, after the forensic audit was done, the figure was reduced to Sh56 million, [and] the same case [applies to] other counties.”

Garbage dump

The disputes between counties and Kenya Power came to the fore earlier this year following the dumping of waste outside the electricity supplier’s headquarters in Nairobi by county vehicles over a bill that had led to power disconnection.

At the time, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja said Kenya Power owed Nairobi County Sh4.9 billion in wayleave charges while the county owed the utility Sh1.5 billion.

“Kenya Power was claiming Sh3 billion [and] after [our meeting], it went down to Sh1.5 billion.”

The county government, he said, had struck an agreement with Kenya Power to pay the debt, adding that the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Service had paid some Sh700 million to Kenya Power, leaving a balance of Sh800 million.

Sakaja said the county had sent a demand notice to Kenya Power for Sh4.9 billion in wayleave charges going back to 2002 but there was no response, pointing out similar cases in other counties.