Fire at Kakamega substation triggers widespread blackout in Western Kenya

In a customer alert issued at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Kenya Power said the outage had disrupted electricity supply to customers in Kakamega, Bungoma, Busia, Siaya and parts of Vihiga counties.

The utility company said efforts were underway to restore power by rerouting electricity through alternative supply lines as engineers worked to address the incident at the substation.

"A fire incident at Musaga Substation in Kakamega has resulted in a widespread power outage affecting our customers in Kakamega, Bungoma, Busia, Siaya and parts of Vihiga counties,” stated the company.

Kenya Power acknowledged the disruption caused to homes and businesses across the affected region, saying electricity would be restored progressively.

"We are re-routing power through alternative supply lines to restore electricity to customers progressively as the incident at the substation is addressed,” added the company.

The company apologised to customers for the inconvenience, but did not indicate the cause of the fire or provide a timeline for full restoration of electricity.