A national blackout reported on Saturday, November 11, has elicited a lot of reactions from Kenyans, with some blaming Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen for the national tragedy.
The blackout that lasted for hours left passengers stranded at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) stopping operations at the organization.
Furthermore, the incident came barely three months after another national blackout that paralyzed operations at JKIA causing uproar across the country.
Many users on X, reshared Murkomen’s statement on August 26, stating that the blackout at the power loss at the airport would not occur again.
“Arrived at Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) offices at JKIA. This situation will not happen again,” Murkomen stated then.
Notably, the CS shared the statement after grilling and physical meetings with the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) to determine a solution for the issue that had grabbed the attention of the international audience.
Also Read KPLC Update on Countrywide Power Blackout
Questions Raised After JKIA Blackout
On the other hand, Kenyans took to social media questioning the measures put in place by the government to avert such cases.
Additionally, many noted that KAA had earlier stated that it would integrate solar power at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to avoid over reliance on the nation grid.
KAA’s Acting Managing Director Henry Ogoye also stated that JKIA was undergoing an appraisal of a 3MW solar power installation to generate solar energy to help cut costs and help to mitigate carbon emissions.
All these, according to Kenyans, had not been either implemented or were empty promises because they were meant to avert another case of blackout at the airport.
Also, Kenyans on X stated that it was a national and global shame to lose power at Kenya’s dominant airport that services dignitaries and international passengers.
Also Read: JKIA Mulls Strategy to Avert Power Blackouts After Firing of Boss
KAA Issues Statement on Blackout at JKIA
At the same time, KAA issued a statement revealing that the generators were activated after 20 minutes to ensure normalcy was restored.
Subsequently, the authority indicated that they have scheduled a synchronization of another backup power source which will be completed in the next 30 days.
“KAA is committed to maintaining uninterrupted operations and regrets any inconvenience that this outage might have caused to passengers and stakeholders,” the statement read in part.
