Residents of Got Kojowi Village in Ndhiwa Sub County have asked the Kenya Power company to address an acute power outage which has affected the area for more than three months.
The residents, led by Frederick Owino, said that the power outage began when a transformer blew out at Got Kojowi Trading Centre on December 23 last year.
Owino said various institutions which provide essential services, including Got Kojowi Health Center, which residents rely on for medication, have been crippled by the outage.
He lamented that due to power failure, residents are now forced to seek medication far away, at Ndhiwa Sub-county hospital.
“When we walk to seek medication at Got Kojowi Health Center, there are a number of services we cannot get because the health facility lacks electricity. This forces us to travel long distances to seek health services,” Owino said.
The power outage has also adversely affected Got Kojowi Senior School, where students learn without electricity. Chief Principal Simeon Ratego said his students have suffered for the whole of the first term.
Ratego said the students have not been able to do practical lessons which require electricity. “There are a number of practical lessons our students have been unable to do due to lack of electricity. This has negatively impacted on our students, especially those who are going to sit for their exams this year.
The blackout, he added, has also caused an acute water shortage in the school, which has led to increased cases of typhoid among students. “Our school relies on water pumped using the electricity. The water shortage has interfered with our academic programmes besides causing waterborne diseases.” Ratego regretted it.
The business community at Got Kojowi Trading Centre also lamented that the power outage has severely affected their businesses.
The local traders’ Chairman Mr Dickens Onyango said welders, salon operators and other businesses requiring electricity have shut down.
“The number of trading hours in the evening has been reduced because traders have to close at 7pm due to fear of insecurity brought about by darkness,” Onyango said.
Meanwhile, the residents also called on the County Government of Homa Bay to complete the construction of a maternity wing at Got Kojowi which was started three years ago but remains incomplete.
“The construction started about three years ago but seems to have stalled. The county government has not told us why it has stalled. We want the construction to be revived,” Owino added.
By Davis Langat
