KenGen, Kenya’s major electricity generating company, has spent Ksh994 million on community empowerment programmes in Nyakach Constituency, a huge amount going to the education sector.
The sector consumed the lion’s share at Ksh300 million, with much of the cash going into funding bright and needy students in the area.
More than Ksh197 million was spent on environmental conservation, Ksh15 million on health, Ksh20 million on scholarships, and peace building initiatives along Kericho-Sondu border Ksh60 million, among many more.
The projects have been done under KenGen’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes.
KenGen’s Western Kenya Regional Manager Eng Alfred Abiero disclosed that the projects had been done cumulatively for several years in the constituency.
“For years, KenGen Foundation has been instrumental in implementing projects in education, environment, water, and sanitation,” he said.
Eng Abiero, flanked by the firm’s Marketing and Corporate Communication Manager Frank Ochieng, told the media at a luncheon in Kisumu that such programmes had impacted positively on the lives of local people.
He said they had changed the face of Nyakach community with high end community projects as part of their way of giving back to the society.
Currently, KenGen PLC actively participates in the welfare of communities in and around the areas it works as part of its CSR strategy.
Abiero said the company believes every child has the right to education and wants to ensure that their bursary kitty increases education access to a bigger number.
He highlighted some of the areas they had impacted through the CSR programme as infrastructure and water sector.
In construction of local all-weather roads linking the community to the village markets and trading centres, they had spent Ksh350 million.
Water sector had taken about Ksh197 million.
“We have dug several boreholes and installed water pumps and supplied tanks to several schools in Nyakach,’’ he said.
He claimed the KenGen projects were clearly labelled to avoid contradiction or the NGCDF taking credit from their own initiatives as is claimed in some quarters.
The firm, he said, is working closely with the area MP Aduma Owuor to implement the development projects.
Abiero and Ochieng attributed KenGen’s successful CSR programmes to its good profit returns each financial year, saying it was one of the best run state corporations.
Last year, KenGen’s profit margins grew from Ksh3.4 billion to Ksh5.02 billion, showing how resilient it was in profit making.
The company has also reported a 14 per cent growth in revenues from Ksh 47.47 billion to Ksh53.96 billion.
This was tagged as a significant 48 per cent growth in profit after tax for the year ended June 30, 2023, surging to Ksh5.02 billion up from Ksh3.4 billion in the previous year largely driven by the company’s investments in geothermal energy.
By Kepher Otieno
Get more stories from our website: Education News
To write to us or offer feedback, you can reach us at: editor@educationnews.co.ke
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
