Electricity distributor Kenya Power cooked its books to the tune of billions of shillings in two years after it was roped into a political scheme to keep the electorate happy in the run-up to last year’s General Election.
When you tally actions of @IEBCKenya and those of @KenyaPower it tells you the extent the system (deep state) travelled to ensure Uhuru re-election. Do you think @KenyaPower will cook its books again for Ruto 2022? Running on his own tribe + Jubilee record he’ll lose at 8am! 1/
— D I K E M B E (@Disembe) November 30, 2018
Auditor-General Edward Ouko has, in his latest report, laid bare the full extent of the financial misrepresentation, whose aim was to keep electricity prices artificially low and help the Jubilee government get re-elected.
Kenya Power refused to restate its financial results for the years ended June 2017 and June 2018 as Mr Ouko had advised, underlining the level of impunity at the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm.
Last year the company, acting on instructions from the government (which was seeking re-election in the August poll), suspended the collection of fuel cost charge on electricity bills, leading to a pile-up of uncollected cash.
The fuel cost charge , which is used to compensate diesel power generators, was held constant at Sh2.85 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in the seven months to August last year despite a steep increase in the amount of diesel-generated power on the national grid.
The financial position of Kenya Power is worse than https://t.co/9MInqzcleN of the Auditor General reveals the listed firm has been cooking books!
How can a monopoly,state owned company b in this much trouble?
oh!yes… CORRUPTION! Wat else! #switchoffkplc pic.twitter.com/mwti3LFDLK— ping pong # (@pauliddiali) November 30, 2018
Consequently, the uncollected levy piled up to more than Sh10 billion, forcing the company to ramp up its recovery of the levy after the election, and causing a consumer uproar and litigation.
According to Business Daily, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approved Kenya Power’s ignore-and-bill-later strategy which was short-term policy of the government.
Delaying collection of the fuel levy, which was meant to contain public disaffection with the government over the high electricity bills in the run-up to the polls, however, left Kenya Power’s financial statements in disarray.
To pull off the scheme, Kenya Power went against International Accounting Standards (IAS) to incorrectly report sales, receivables, liabilities and profits.
The electricity distributor irregularly recognised unbilled fuel costs as revenue, setting off a process that saw it manipulate the reporting of other items in its books in the quest to avoid disclosing lower earnings.
Do you think KPLC cooperated with IEBC to rig elections?
