The Kenya Power And Lighting Company (KPLC) is a state corporation that is tasked with distribution of electricity countrywide. Because of the critical role that it plays in the lives of Kenyans, the company is seen as one of the driving forces to Kenya’s success in industrialization.
Recently, the company has been hitting headlines for both positive and negative news. For instance, the company’s official financial reports for the year ended June, 2021 indicates that it posted a pretax profit of ksh 8.198 billion.
This was seen as a point in the right direction given the company had posted a pretax loss of ksh 7 billion the previous year. The positive results were attributed to the company’s change of strategy that saw a reduction of operating costs from Ksh47.8 Bn to Ksh39.86 Bn.
Into 2022, the company also began implementing a presidential order to have the cost of power slashed by 30%. This was in a bid to save the common citizens from high costs of living and to ensure an increase in productivity. By 7th January, 2022, the cost of power was reduced by 15% and a further 15% slash is expected to be effected by the end of the first quarter of 2022.
On a negative note, the company was largely blamed for a nationwide blackout that hit Kenya on 11th January, 2022 after the collapse of 4 high voltage transmission pylons in Embakasi, Nairobi. The matter saw various government agencies swing into action on suspicion of sabotage by top officials.
On 26 August 2023, the country was plunged into a power outage lasting for hours. A report from KPLC read in part,
“We have experienced a general system disturbance thereby causing a major outage. Our technical teams are troubleshooting with the aim of restoring supply at the earliest”.
Since president William Ruto assumed power, he has made a number of changes on the leadership of the power distributor.
Kenya Power Board Members
The following are the board members of the company as retrieved from the official website:-
Joy Brenda Masinde – The 45 year old is the Chairlady, Board of Directors. She holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Nairobi and undertaking a Masters of Arts in Leadership from the International Leadership.
Others board members are, National Treasury & Economic Planning CS Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u.
- Dr. Eng. Joseph Siror Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
- Mr. Alex Wachira, BSCN Principal Secretary, Ministry of Energy
- Mr. Alex Wachira, BSCN Principal Secretary, Ministry of Energy
- Dr. Duncan Ojwang
- Kairo Thuo
- Mr. Humphrey Muhu Non-Executive Director
- Eng. Benson Mwakina, Alternate Director to the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Energy
- Eng. Albert Mugo
- Logan Christi Hambrick
- Veska Kangogo
- Imelda Bore General Manager, Corporate Affairs & Company Secretary
Major Shareholders.
The Kenyan government, through the Treasury Ministry is the major shareholder of Kenya Power with over 50.1% of total shares. Other major shareholders are Standard Chartered Bank nominees and The Kenya Commercial Bank.
Influential Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro is the single largest individual shareholder with 32.5 million shares, translating to 1.67 percent stake in the utility, at the end of June 2023 compared with 27.29 million in the same month last year, according to regulatory filings.
Below is a list of the top 20 shareholders adopted from the company’s official report for the financial year ended June, 2021 and updated in 2023.
1). The National Treasury – 978 492 034 shares
2). Standard Chartered Nominees Resd A/C KE 11450- 32 518 589 shares
3). Standard Chartered Nominees Non-Resd A/C KE 11749- 24 076 800 shares
4). Hirani, Naran Khimji & Hirani Virji Khimji – 23 845 264 shares
5). Kenya Commercial Bank – 22 887 288 shares
6). NIC Custodial Services – 21 790 300 shares
7). Varsani Suresh Naran Ratna – 17 221 225 shares
8). Shah Mahendra Kumar Khetshi – 13 958 000 shares
9). Standard Chartered Nominees – 12 513 581 shares
10). Stanbic Nominees – 12 400 226 shares
11). Nyoro, Samson Ndindi – 32.5 million shares
12). Patel Sumantrai & Patel Ramaben – 10 397 300 shares
13). Standard Chartered Kenya Nominees LTD-8,920,415 shares
14). Stanbic Nominees Limited-8,551,279 shares
15). Ruhari, Nehemia Ikuah-8,000,055 shares
16). Kaleb Investments Limited-7,986,700 shares
17). NIC Custodial Services A/C 077-7,196,799 shares
18). Pama, Atul-7,180,100 shares
19). Tapioca Limited-7,112,500
20). Co-op Custody Services Account 7,052,500
