Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC (KenGen) has unveiled a food drive of Kes.10 million, targeting residents of nine counties nationwide.
The food drive targets communities in areas where KenGen operates electricity-generating power stations.
The program has been going on since November 2022 and seeks to alleviate the suffering of millions of families most affected by the prevailing drought.
KenGen Ag. Managing Director and CEO Abraham Serem stated that the food donations targeted marginalized communities and special interest groups, including women, youth people living with disabilities and children, and women, since the food crisis hardest hit them.
Embu, West Pokot, Kilifi, Kajiado, Turkana, Kitui, Nakuru, and Migori are the nine counties targeted for the campaigns where KenGen has an active presence as host counties of various power installations.
To keep the pupils in the classroom, KenGen says that through the programme, it had provided food rations to around 200 schools.
The decision was made against the backdrop of bad hydrology brought on by five seasons of drought in a row, during which the nation had low rainfalls resulting in poor crop production and failure.
Serem said the failure of the rains had also hampered the majority of the KenGen power generation plants, which he said depended on water to produce energy while speaking at the flag-off of the food donation caravans to various counties.
“Failure of the long and short rains in 2022 has greatly affected us in the hydropower stations where we have not been able to operate at full capacity due to low inflows of water in the large dams that feed our hydropower stations,” said Serem.
While schools around the nation reopened after a long holiday, Serem added that KenGen had spent Kes.10 million on relief meals to ensure pupils had enough to keep them in class.
Alexander Mundingi, Embu Senator, commended KenGen for its CSR programme, which helps communities in good and bad times.
