Over the course of Friday and Saturday, multiple areas in Kenya experienced power outages, which also resulted in several hours of darkness at Nairobi International Airport.
Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) reported “a system disturbance leading to a loss of bulk power supply to various parts of the country” starting Friday night.
In addition to the five million-strong capital city, the major urban centers impacted in the East African country comprised Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, and Eldoret.
Around noon on Saturday, the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) reported that electricity had been reinstated in the majority of regions. However, there were still reports of ongoing power outages in some parts of the capital city and Mombasa, the second-largest urban center.
At Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi, one of Africa’s busiest travel hubs, the Kenya Airport Authority stated that a generator responsible for powering the main terminals failed to restart following the power outage.
KPLC said the airport supply had returned at 3:00 am (0000 GMT).
There was no information available regarding the impact of the outage on flight departures and arrivals.
Transport Minister Kipchumba Murkomen used the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to assert, “No explanation justifies this situation, and there is no valid reason for our airport to be without light.”