Uproar as residents go for three months without power

A power outage that has persisted for over three months is threatening the safety and well being of more than 100 children at the Baba Nyumbani Children’s Home.

The children’s home, which shelters orphans, rescued, and vulnerable children, has been operating without electricity since the breakdown of a transformer nearly 90 days ago. The facility's management says repeated appeals to Kenya Power have fallen on deaf ears, and the consequences are growing more dire each day.

“This blackout is not just an inconvenience, it is a crisis. Our children are living in darkness, exposed to risks, and deprived of basic needs. We feel completely abandoned,” said Esther Ongaya, the facility’s administrator.

Ongaya said the outage has disabled all CCTV surveillance and security lighting around the premises, raising serious concerns over the safety of the children, especially at night.

“We are on edge every evening. We can’t monitor movements around the compound. If someone wanted to break in, we wouldn’t even see them,” said Ongaya.

Beyond security, the lack of electricity has disrupted the home’s water supply. Vincent Juma who works in the facility told The Standard that the borehole pumps, which rely on power to function, have stalled, leaving the facility without running water.

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Juma said that the toilets that depend on flushing systems are no longer usable, and the threat of disease looms large.

“We fear a cholera outbreak. Sanitation has been compromised. The children are using buckets to flush toilets or are forced to relieve themselves in unsafe areas,” Juma stated.

Additionally, Ogaya revealed that young girls at the children's home are among the most affected.

“Hygiene management has become extremely difficult. Girls need consistent access to clean water, and right now, we simply don’t have it. It’s a threat to their dignity and health,” she told The Standard.

The financial burden on the facility has been overwhelming. Baba Nyumbani has spent more than KSh 315,000 on generator fuel over the last three months in an attempt to keep essential services running. But even the generator can't power everything.

“We are draining money we don’t have. We’ve had to cut down on other critical needs like food and school supplies just to buy fuel,” said Juma.

Juma said that the blackout has also disrupted learning. Digital lessons, which had become a core part of the children’s education, have ground to a halt. The facility's paperless administration system has been abandoned in favor of manual record-keeping.

Meanwhile, perishable food supplies have been lost. A freezer full of beef had to be discarded after the meat spoiled. Vegetables and tomatoes grown in eight greenhouses have withered due to the lack of irrigation, compounding the food insecurity and forcing the home to buy costly alternatives from markets.

The crisis extends beyond the walls of the children’s home. Residents of nearby Baraka and Nyakinywa farms have also been affected.

Residents say they have filed multiple complaints with Kenya Power with no results. The frustration has sparked plans for protest.

“We have written emails, made phone calls, and even visited the offices. No one has come to fix the transformer. We are left with no choice but to march to their offices," Timon Nabwera stated.

Nabwera called on the government to break Kenya Power’s monopoly by allowing other electricity providers into the market.

Efforts to get a comment from the power firm was futile