Following Friday's power outage at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Senator Maanzo urged Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and his Energy counterpart Davis Chirchir, to tender their resignation.

"There is no way Chichir and Murkomen can risk the lives of so many people and still remain in office," Maanzo remarked.

PHOTO | COURTESY Dan Maanzo

"You know how frustrating it is to fly all the way, especially when the lights suddenly go out...When planes are in landing gear, they cannot speak and must land, risking lives. Safety and security are also major concerns.

He advised airport managers to exercise caution when installing and maintaining backup generators to ensure continuous power supply.

"One of the things that should be at the back of every airport manager's mind should be lives and a lighting system; as soon as the electricity goes out, there should be diesel engines running immediately to ensure lighting," Maanzo said.

PHOTO | COURTESY Dan Maanzo


The senator voiced disappointment about economic losses caused by the blackout.

Tana River senator Danson Mungatana, for one, believes that the responsibility for the statewide blackout should have been shared by two ministers.

Mungatana believes that changing leadership at JKIA and other airports is insufficient.

Chirchir and KPLC CEO Joseph Siror have been asked to appear in parliament on Thursday to provide persuasive reasons for the power outage.

PHOTO | COURTESY Murkomen


Kenya Power blamed the big outage on a "general system disturbance." On Saturday, power was totally restored.