Wandayi tells Senate 163 KETRACO affected persons still unpaid amid delays

Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi has told the Senate Standing Committee on Energy that 163 people affected by three Kenya Electricity Transmission Company projects are yet to receive compensation, even after 836 individuals were identified in total along the project corridors.

Appearing before the committee on Wednesday, the Cabinet Secretary gave an update on ongoing land compensation processes and national electricity expansion programmes, saying the delays are linked to financial and administrative challenges while government efforts continue to resolve them.

“The total number of Project Affected Persons for Kajiado–Namanga, Sultan Hamud–Oloitoktok and UMMA University–Konza transmission line projects is 836,” Wandayi said.

He explained that compensation has already been made to a large number of those affected, but gaps remain across the three projects.

“The number of PAPs not compensated is 108 from the Kajiado–Namanga project, 37 from Sultan Hamud–Merrueshi–Loitoktok project and 18 from Isinya–Konza project,” he stated.

Project Affected Persons are individuals, households or communities whose land or property falls within wayleave corridors for major infrastructure projects such as power lines, substations or related developments, and are therefore entitled to compensation before or during construction.

In the energy sector, especially under transmission projects managed by KETRACO, such persons are identified in advance and assessed for loss of land, structures, crops or livelihoods before payments are made based on valuation.

Wandayi said the remaining unpaid cases are due to a mix of financial and documentation challenges affecting the compensation process.

“These PAPs have not been compensated due to budget constraints, missing documents, absentee landowners, unreturned offered letters and few due to rejection of offers,” he told lawmakers.

He further informed the committee that as of March 13, 2026, a total of 163 affected persons across the three transmission projects were still awaiting payment.

“The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum can confirm that as of 13th of March, 2026, 163 project affected persons had not been compensated from the three transmission line projects,” Wandayi said.

Despite the delays, the Cabinet Secretary assured lawmakers that the government remains committed to clearing all pending dues.

“The Ministry is committed to ensuring all the PAPs are compensated,” he said.

He added that the Ministry, working through KETRACO, is pushing for affected persons to submit missing documentation and return offer letters where required, in order to speed up the process.

The Ministry is also in discussions with the National Treasury to secure the funds needed to complete outstanding payments.

“The Ministry is in constant engagement with the National Treasury to provide the necessary resources for this particular purpose,” he added.

Beyond compensation issues, Wandayi also briefed the Senate on progress in electricity access, noting increased connectivity in Kajiado County and across the country.

“The total number of households connected to power in Kajiado County is 365,277 households and the total number of connections in the country is 10,346,947 households,” he said.

To expand access further, he said the Ministry is implementing 53 electrification schemes across constituencies in Kajiado County.

Kajiado Central has 11 schemes serving 416 customers at a cost of Sh32.36 million, while Kajiado East has 12 schemes serving 379 customers at Sh37.28 million.

Kajiado North has 9 schemes serving 214 customers at Sh15.56 million, Kajiado South has 10 schemes serving 384 customers at Sh43.36 million, and Kajiado West has 11 schemes serving 357 customers at Sh37.21 million.

Wandayi said these programmes form part of the broader national plan to expand electricity access and improve infrastructure to support economic activity in both rural and urban areas.

He maintained that while compensation delays remain a challenge, coordination between the Ministry, KETRACO and the National Treasury is expected to clear outstanding cases as electrification projects continue to expand across the country.