Energy Cabinet Secretary (CS) Davis Chirchir was was heckled by an angry crowd forcing him to cut short his speech during a church service in Sotik, Bomet County, on Sunday, November 19, 2023.
The crowd turned hostile, interrupting the minister’s speech after Chirchir had been invited to the podium by the hosting Governor Hillary Barchok to address the congregation.
The residents are said to have been irked by electricity connectivity issues in the area, a mandate that falls within Chirchir’s docket.
President William Ruto, who attended the function, sought to calm down the residents during his speech, assuring them that the government was seized of the matter.
CS Chirchir has been under pressure recently to explain the high cost of electricity and fuel in the country.
In June, he established an eight-member committee to fast-track development of a strategy to identify and address the factors behind the ever-rising cost of electricity.
The CS said the committee’s report would play a big role in persuading Parliament to lift a moratorium it imposed on signing new power deals.
On the cost of fuel, the CS told the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Energy in September that there was little the government could do to bring down the prices.
He cited external factors including the Russia-Ukraine war for the high prices.
“We are dealing with several governments who are the suppliers of these products and we are likely to witness even harder times because these are prices presented by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and there is nothing much we can do,” Chirchir stated after fuel prices crossed the Ksh200 mark per litre.
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