Services at the Embu County Lands Office have been paralysed after Kenya Power disconnected electricity over an unpaid bill of Ksh40,000.
Confirming the outage, Embu Senator Alexander Mundigi said critical operations at the office including land searches, transactions and title deed processing had ground to a halt.
“The Land CEC in this county should move quickly and clear the debt. The office is at the centre of Embu town, but it is in total darkness,” said Mundigi. “Nothing can go on because even the officers need computers to verify land titles. The situation is very disturbing, and we never expected it.”
The senator urged Lands CEC Raymond Njagi to take responsibility and ensure power is restored so residents can continue accessing services.
This is not the first time Kenya Power has locked horns with county governments over unpaid bills.
Just six months ago, the utility clashed with Nairobi County over a Ksh3 billion debt, leading to power cuts in several county offices.
In retaliation, Nairobi officials dumped garbage outside Kenya Power headquarters, turned on sewage pipes, and even clamped company vehicles over what they claimed was Ksh4.9 billion owed in rates.
The standoff ended only after President William Ruto intervened, calling both Governor Johnson Sakaja and KPLC bosses to resolve the issue.
Sakaja later apologised, admitting the county’s response had been inappropriate.
“I want to thank Governor Sakaja. Recently, they made a mistake, but he had the courage to apologise. That’s leadership,” President Ruto said at the time.
