Your vote will shape Kenya's future, says Kibaki

President Kibaki has urged Kenyans to register as voters to fully participate in the country’s democratic process. 

The President appealed to Kenyans of age to take advantage of the ongoing voter registration exercise to enable them vote in the next elections.

Speaking during the commissioning of the Sh10 billion Kipevu III thermal power plant in Mombasa, the President said it was only by taking part in the electoral process that citizens will influence the political and economic agenda of the counties and the country at large.

"If you don’t register as a voter then how will you participate in choosing the right leaders to govern this nation?” the President asked.

The President noted that it will be foolhardy for any individual to expect good leadership and yet they don’t participate register to vote.

President Kibaki expressed the government’s commitment and determination to significantly increase electricity generation in order to boost production of goods and services and spur Kenya’s industrialisation efforts.

"Over the last 10 years, we have increased national electricity connectivity and significantly improved the installed electricity capacity," said President Kibaki.

Green energy

To meet increased power demands in the country, President Kibaki reaffirmed commitment to develop green energy.

The Head of State noted that the country’s robust economic growth coupled with fast rising population levels has accelerated the demand for electricity.

“This phenomenon has presented several challenges for us. Firstly, our total installed electricity capacity at 1,500 Megawatts against a peak demand of 1,300 Megawatts leaves little room for generation capacity break down or becomes grossly inadequate under serious drought conditions. 

"Secondly, our country’s electricity per capita consumption of 170 kilowatts hours is very low.  In addition, the national electricity connectivity is 30 per cent of the population,” the President said.

He reiterated his government’s commitment to ensuring an enabling energy policy and legal framework that best facilitates energy production, supply and distribution to provide stimulus for socio-economic transformation as articulated in Vision 2030.

"Under the Vision 2030 economic blueprint, it is intended to grow our electricity generation capacity to 21,000 Megawatts in the next 17 years to provide for the projected peak demand of 17,000 Megawatts and a reserve margin of 23 per cent."

President Kibaki anticipated that by 2030, more than 90 per cent of Kenya’s population will be connected to power supply, principally from the national grid. 

“In this regard, I recently launched the construction of the 280 Megawatts geothermal project at Olkaria geothermal field and it is scheduled for commercial operation by September 2014,” the Head of State said.

Domestic savings

The President commended KenGen for funding the 115 Megawatts Kipevu III Thermal Plant through a local infrastructure bond floated by the company in 2009.

He noted with appreciation that participation by the citizenry in such projects confirms the people’s confidence in the infrastructure projects being implemented and a good example of what can be attained through mobilising domestic savings for long-term investments.

Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi said when history is written the President will be remembered for the expansion of energy and power supply to all corners of the country.

Mr Murungi said the Ministry is expanding its activities of exploring more geothermal energy projects and natural gas so as to provide cheap and affordable energy to spur economic activities in the country.

The area MP Ramadhan Kajembe thanked the President for the many projects initiated in the Coastal region and the country at large, saying the major infrastructural projects and the passage of the new constitution will be a mark of his legacy to be remembered by many generations to come.

He said the many government projects initiated under the President leadership have brought government services closer to Kenyans.

Other speakers included the chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Energy and Communication James Rege, assistant Energy minister Magerer Langat, Kengen Managing Director Edward Njoroge, Kengen chairman Titus Mbathi and Coast PC Samuel Kilele.