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Makueni senator Danson Maanzo has asked Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) Kipchumba Murkomen (Transport) and Davis Kipchirchir (Energy) to resign with immediate effect over the nationwide power outage.

Speaking during an interview with a local TV station, Maanzo faulted the two CSs for failing to do their jobs within their respective dockets.

He also accused the two officials of risking the lives of several people and jeopardizing businesses across the country.

“Chirchir and Murkomen should resign, there is no way you will risk the lives of so many people and still stay in office. There are always frustrations when the lights just go off in an airport. It risks life and safety. Life safety should be a priority for these people,” Maanzo stated.

While faulting the two CSs, Maanzo noted that Kenya Power should start compensating anyone who experiences business losses due to similar circumstances.

He also called on the utility firm to be more responsible to avert similar instances in future.

“Kenya Power and the whole system of managing energy in the country has been so ridiculous, such jokers. Blackouts are so common in the country yet they take it as a normal thing. Hotels have lost in terms of food storage. There are people likely to get sick from consuming the food.

“The damage is so huge and people should take responsibility. There should even be a mass suit on the loss especially in matters where it is due to negligence and it is high time Kenya Power should take Kenyan businesses seriously. In my opinion, Chirchir and Murkomen should have resigned by now,” he stated.

Last week, a nationwide power outage was experienced across the country for a better part of Friday and Saturday night.

The outage spread out to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) paralysing activities. Kenya Power issued a statement noting that the outage was caused by a system disruption.

“At 2145hrs, we experienced a system disturbance leading to the loss of bulk power supply to various parts of the country. We are working in collaboration with teams from all involved sector partners to facilitate the speedy restoration of power supply in the shortest time possible,” the utility company wrote at the time.