Businesses and homes across Nairobi, where internet connectivity is essential for daily operations, are on edge as the standoff between county authorities and Kenya Power escalates. The latest flashpoint in this roiling dispute is a county-led crackdown on illegal fibre optic cables, particularly those mounted on electricity transmission poles along major highways.

While launching the crackdown, Nairobi County Revenue Chief Officer Tiras Njoroge faulted Kenya Power, stating, “Some of these fibre lines are illegal. We have given the affected service providers ample time to pay for hosting them on these poles, but they have refused. They have neither paid for wayleaves nor sought county approval.” 

The county official added that they were disconnecting the services for the providers, who depend on Kenya Power poles for the connections, saying that the energy utility has been aiding the providers to breach the law.

According to the revenue officer, internet service providers should ensure that all fibre optic installations on county road reserves have the necessary approvals and that wayleave fees are fully paid.

The Nairobi City County Finance Act, 2023, provides that the installation of power lines and fibre optic cables on road reserves be subject to wayleave charges. These charges apply to entities such as utility companies and internet service providers that use public land for their infrastructure.

The drastic move by Nairobi County comes in a week marked by escalating cold war between the capital county and Kenya Power and Lighting Company over pending bills valued at KES3 billion.

Already, the county authorities have resulted to unorthodox means including disconnecting water supply and sewerage services to Kenya Power as part of a wider push to demand settling of the huge debt.

Coincidentally, the crackdown on internet service providers began on Tuesday just a few hours after the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) ordered the Nairobi City County Government to clear the garbage heap its officials had dumped at the entrance of Kenya Power’s offices in Nairobi.

While addressing the media on Tuesday, NEMA's Environmental Education director Ayub Macharia directed the county to remove the waste and trucks parked outside Stima Plaza, noting that was not a gazetted dump waste.

“We hereby demand that you (Nairobi City County) remove your garbage from this site (Kenya Power offices). This is not a waste disposal site. We do not want the garbage there,” noted Mr Macharia.

The environment agency argued that the garbage was polluting the environment surrounding the Kenya Power offices as well as nearby residential and commercial areas.

“The smell, you know, does not respect boundaries. There are residential houses, eateries, some hotels, and business premises that are affected. Although we heard there was a conflict, we are ending up with a situation where other parties unrelated to the conflict are affected,” the official explained.

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