By RASNA WARAH
More by this AuthorThe lashing, splashing, drenching monsoons finally arrived in Malindi, bringing with them much joy — and pain. Gardens and farms are thriving. The scorching, stifling summer heat has been replaced by cool winds that aid restful sleep at night.
But not everyone is happy. Rains in the coastal belt of Kenya often cause prolonged blackouts.
Early this month, many parts of Malindi suffered blackouts that lasted as long as a week. Food in fridges had to be thrown away and candles took the place of lights.
Calls to Kenya Power yielded the usual response, “We are working on it.”
Frequent power blackouts in Kenya impact productivity and are a security risk. Because the entire country’s electricity is supplied by a monopoly that is quite often unreliable, Kenya Power can literally hold the whole country hostage if it wanted to.
Indeed, there have been country-wide blackouts in the recent past.
Perhaps it is time to review whether Kenya should open up the energy sector to new players. Kenyans benefited enormously when the telecommunications sector was opened up to private mobile phone companies.
Competition and affordability made telephones more accessible to a larger share of the population. Maybe a similar thing can happen in the energy supply sector.
The rainy season in Malindi also brings about other inconveniences. Due to the poor quality of roads that lack drainage, motorists and pedestrians have to contend with flooded, pot-holed roads.
For those in the hotel industry, the rains signal the low tourist season, which means fewer bookings. This year, the hotels are almost empty; two of the biggest hotels have actually closed down permanently.
Hotel workers have been suspended or put on half-pay. The tourist season this year is not just low; it has tanked, thanks to recent terrorist attacks in Lamu and Garissa.
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