Blowbacks are a popular feature in disagreements. When two important parties clash, one of them is bound to suffer—or worse, an entirely unrelated group gets caught in the crossfire. Last week, Nairobi County officials and Kenya Power turned their dispute into a messy battle—one that featured a lot of sewage, garbage, and now, severed internet cables.
Kenya Power claims the county government owes it $23.1 million (KES 3 billion) in unpaid electricity bills, while Nairobi officials counter that the utility giant has been dodging wayleave fees for years. It resulted in a cat-and-dog fight that saw county workers cut fibre optic cables carrying internet for thousands of Kenyan homes, businesses, and schools.
The losers in this spat are not the warring factions but Kenya’s tech-driven economy and the affected citizens who depend on a stable internet. The Technology Service Providers Association of Kenya (TESPOK) has slammed the county’s actions, warning of the disruption’s ripple effects across hospitals, financial institutions, and essential services. Kenyan internet service providers (ISPs) are already counting losses running into millions of Kenyan Shillings, according to TESPOK.
Fixing severed fibre optic cables would require the affected ISPs to retrieve the broken cables and fix new ones. This could cost anywhere between KES5,500 ($42) to KES11,000 ($86) per kilometre—an expense the organisation deems would have been unnecessary.
TESPOK insists that Kenya Power’s agreements with service providers protect ISPs from unlawful disconnections, making the county government’s move both reckless and costly. It is now demanding full accountability and compensation for businesses and consumers affected by the blackout.
With the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) calling for a ceasefire, one thing is clear—this battle of unpaid bills has escalated beyond power lines and bureaucratic paperwork. If Nairobi’s leaders and Kenya Power don’t find common ground soon, the digital backbone of the city could take even more hits, leaving everyone else to pay the price.
