Simiyu wins GDC power tussle

Dr Silas Simiyu has won the battle for the control of Geothermal Development Company that pitted him against his chairman Simon Gicharu.

In a reshuffle announced Friday, President Uhuru Kenyatta moved Mr Gicharu to the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) in a similar capacity and replaced him with Mr Faisal Abass, the chairman of REA.

The two were each handed a one-year contract.

On Friday, reports suggested that Mr Gicharu had been removed in a boardroom coup. Mr Gicharu, the founder of Mt Kenya University, demanded the removal of Mr Simiyu, GDC's chief executive, accusing him of corruption.

The standoff came barely three months after Mr Gicharu was appointed to head the company on December 27 last year.

In a confidential report sent to the Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua, Mr Gicharu accuses Mr Simiyu of mismanagement, nepotism and dishonesty. He had demanded GDC be audited in the absence of Mr Simiyu.

TUSSLE OVER TENDER

Mr Gicharu has been embroiled in a tussle with the firm’s CEO over a tender involving the purchase of an electrical rig that was awarded to Sichuan Honghua Petroleum Equipment at Sh2 billion ($21.5m). The anti-corruption commission then started investigations into the parastatal.

GDC gave China Petroleum Technology and Development Corporation an additional job in a contract worth Sh6 billion to put up three rigs after initially winning the tender for two in 2011.

Members of the Public Investments Committee said the deal was contrary to the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, the Public Finance Management Act and the Law of Contract.

However, Mr Simiyu said the procedure was in line with the rules of the African Development Bank, which had given the government the money, part of it disbursed as a loan and the rest as a grant. The government then gave GDC the money as a grant.

POWER SUPPLY STATUS

The shake-up came as Mr Kenyatta directed policy makers in the Ministry of Energy to fast-track new generation and transmission programmes to cut the cost of power.

At a meeting, Cabinet secretary Davis Chirchir led nine parastatal chiefs in the energy sector to give an update on the power supply status and projections for the period of May to September.

When contacted, Mr Gicharu said the work at GDC was still wanting.

“We resolved the issues and issued a joint statement with the CEO. However, I am still not proud of the work output by GDC,” he said by telephone.

Some 140MW of electricity generated from geothermal power will be commissioned in June and the remainder by September.

GDC said it had wells ready for harnessing to generate another 200MW, while a new coal power plant that would generate 960MW at Lamu and the awards for the contract will be done in one month.

“You must ensure the dependency on rainfall for power generation is reduced as much as possible. You must reduce transmission losses,” said the President.