Businesses suffer as prolonged power outage grips Eastleigh

The affected areas are from 3rd Street to 14th Street on Second Avenue, leaving businesses without electricity.

Parts of Eastleigh have been hit by a power outage that has lasted for over 15 hours as of  Tuesday 11 am, leaving business owners and residents grappling with the consequences of the lack of electricity.

The blackout, which began at 9 pm last night, has paralysed operations in several parts of the business hub, with no signs of restoration in sight for some areas.

The affected areas are from 3rd Street to 14th Street on Second Avenue, leaving businesses without electricity.

This outage has hit particularly hard businesses that do not have a backup power supply, worsening their struggles amid already challenging economic times.

Musa Issac, who runs a mini-market on 11th Street, blamed the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) for its alleged incompetence and disregard for customer welfare.

"They don't care about their customers. I've endured a blackout since last night," lamented Musa, echoing the frustrations of many affected business owners.

Faisal Samow, operating a clinic on 12th Street, voiced concerns over the potential spoilage of insulin injections due to the prolonged outage.

"Surely we cannot endure this blackout much longer. All those insulin injections will go bad soon because of KPLC," expressed Faisal, highlighting the consequences of the power disruption to his business.

Incurring extra costs

Businesses that have backup power supplies and generators have been forced to incur extra costs and purchase fuel, further straining their finances.

Some establishments, such as hotels and barbershops, have already spent thousands of shillings on fuel, with apprehensions of escalating expenses if the outage persists.

Felix Korir, a barbershop owner said he has already spent three thousand shillings on fuel amidst the blackout.

"Three thousand is gone on fuel already. KPLC is punishing us," lamented Felix, explaining the financial toll on small

Due to the prolonged power blackout, it is also common to see people with dead phones moving around with chargers to areas with the power to charge their phones.

When Eastleigh suffers these kinds of power outages, it sometimes takes days before power is restored.

However residents are hopeful this time round, it won't be like that and power will be restored soon.

Kenya Power and Lighting Company has yet to provide a statement regarding the outage