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producers (IPPs).
Speaking in Naivasha yesterday after a
meeting with local leaders, Raila said the
only solution in addressing the high cost of
electricity in the country lies in reviewing all
power contracts between the utility company
and the independent producers.
The former premier accused the
independent power suppliers and unnamed
individuals of fleecing the country
through expensive deals signed in unclear
circumstances.
He made the remarks a few days after the
government declared the electricity company
a special project following spiralling electricity
tariffs.
Raila said the high cost of electricity had
affected manufacturers and the common
mwananchi.
“The government has moved in to address
the high cost of electricity and in case it is
HYDRO around 40,000 worshipers. unable to resolve this, then my government
“The province covers a huge area, from will be there to cushion mwananchi,” he said.
Archbishop of Canterbury the waves of the Atlantic to the beaches of the targeting flower farmers, noting that this was
Raila took issue with the high tax regime
Red Sea and the Indian Ocean,” Welby said in
tells Ethiopia: Talk to his sermon at All Saint’s Cathedral in Cairo. affecting investor confidence.
“A thousand years ago, this area preserved
He also defended Naivasha-based
neighbors over GERD medicine and learning. Today, Egypt has again Keroche Breweries, which has been battling
competitors and the taxman for long, saying
found its historic place as a place of meeting,
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the most of refuge.” the government should be at the forefront in
senior figure in the Church of England, Egypt has a long history of Christian defending local investors.
has called on Ethiopia to restart talks with worship, with more than 9mn worshipers “We need to review our taxes and protect
Egypt and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian living there. Most are Coptic Christians, a local investors so that they can create
Renaissance Dam. religious minority that has faced persecution employment for millions of jobless youth,” he
The Most Rev. Justin Welby was speaking in recent years. However, Welby praised said.
at an event in Egypt inaugurating a new the efforts of the North African country On youth issues, Raila said if elected as
episcopal province on Friday, where he said to improve relations between its disparate the country’s fifth president, his government
that natural resources “were not the sole religious communities. would have the face of the youth in the
property of individual countries.” “Christians are to be part of a church that is Cabinet.
The GERD, damming a stretch of the Blue told to conquer with love and peace — never, He said that for years, the youth had been
Nile, has been a source of tension between the never by a sword, a bomb or a plot,” Welby forgotten, adding that he would make sure
three African states for some time, with Egypt said. “And I say to our dear, dear friends from they were part of decision making in realising
and Sudan fearing the impact it will have on the Islamic community: How often have the Kenyan dream.
vital water supplies downstream. Christians got this wrong? Our history is one Raila revisited the near-collapse of the
The dam will be Africa’s largest source of of the tragic sin of force. Let us be people of fisheries sector in Lake Naivasha through
hydroelectricity, but Cairo and Khartoum peace together.” pollution, noting that through his efforts as
have accused Addis Ababa of breaking The archbishop is expected to visit a the PM, the issue of effluents was addressed.
international law by continuing to fill it refugee charity over the weekend, Refuge He also called for an end to harassment by
without their approval. Egypt, as part of his trip, before returning to Kenya Coast Guard.
There have even been suggestions that the UK on Monday. He took a swipe at Deputy President
Egypt could launch airstrikes against Ethiopia William Ruto over his promises of
if a resolution is not met. wheelbarrows to the youth at a time the
“I appeal to the Ethiopian government to country was going digital.
show that they will use the dam responsibly, CONTRACTS Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui said
caring for their neighbors downstream,” Naivasha should be elevated due to the
Welby said. “Please show that this dam is not a Call for Kenya Power to number of conferences it holds.
reason to worry.”
The new episcopal province of the review IPPs
Anglican Church Welby inaugurated is based
in Alexandria, covering Egypt, Ethiopia, ODM leader Raila Odinga has called on the
Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Eritrea, Somalia, government to review contracts between
Mauritania, Chad and Djibouti, and serving Kenya Power and independent power

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