By Patricia Mollyne Mataga
The Senate was on Thursday forced to end its afternoon session prematurely. This is after what Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna said was due to a lack of power at the facility.
In a post on his verified X handle, formerly Twitter, Sifuna however did not provide more details on the reason behind the Senate chambers lacking power.
“We have had to suspend sittings of the Senate because there is no power in Parliament,” posted the ODM Secretary General.
Ordinarily, the Senate chambers would have a backup generator that picks up automatically in the event of a power outage.
It is still unclear whether the issue was due to a power blackout from the Kenya Power line or it was internal.
Kenyans on X expressed mixed reactions to Senator Sifuna’s post about the Senate having to postpone for lack of power.
“You don’t have a backup generator?” asked Samuel Wekesa while Omwamba said, “We don’t have a country here!”
Many other X users were left puzzled by the Senator’s revelations.
Here are some of the reactions compiled by Nairobi Review;
Brejin: Shame really is this governmement really this poor,are there no back up generators?
Gidi: Mr. Sifuna, as a Kenyan politician who works in the senate, it is important you focus on stories that uplift your motherland. Bro, you are an ambassador, please delete this story and post sth positive. You have close to 1 million followers from all around the world.
Wakili: Hows does a pinch of a fraction of a normal day to day life of a common mwananchi feel Bwana SG
Amwoga Khalwale: You’re the decision makers of the republic of Kenya. Deal with it.
Power blackouts remain a common phenomenon in the country. The issue is usually more often during rainy season.
Recently, Kenya Power came out to explain why there is usually a power outage during rainy season.
“Hatuanuangi stima! Here’s a detailed explanation of the correlation between rain and unplanned power outages,” the company said in a pictorial explaination posted on their verified X handle.