The national electric utility company in Kenya requires a hand from neighbouring Uganda to address a power crisis in the country.
Its request comes after an outage, caused by a system disturbance, affected many parts of Kenya, with passengers at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in the capital, Nairobi, left in darkness for extended periods.
Footage from local media showed individuals using mobile phone torches to navigate the darkened airport.
The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) reported that one of its standby generators did not function after the Kenya Power and Lightning Company’s grid went off.
Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen apologised for the blackout that affected JKIA and undertook to announce measures to prevent a recurrence after discussing the problems with airport leaders.
Assistance from Uganda will help to address the situation in the immediate term.
