Joy Mdivo reveals what happened inside Kenya Power during national blackout

Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) Board Chair Joy Mdivo has shared what transpired inside the utility firm’s Situation Room during Wednesday night’s, July 30, 2026, nationwide blackout, revealing how engineers worked through the night to restore electricity across the country.

In a Facebook post shared on Thursday, July 30, 2026, Mdivo said that while many Kenyans went to bed after the outage, Kenya Power employees immediately returned to work to restore power.

“When national blackouts happen, you all go to bed, and KPLC guys put on their shoes and go back to work, countrywide,” she wrote.

Mdivo explained that she headed straight to the Kenya Power Situation Room after attending the memorial service of her late pastor, where she joined engineers coordinating the restoration of electricity.

Working through the night

While at the Situation Room, Mdivo said one of the engineers recognised her church attire and told her he had also come directly from the same memorial service before reporting for duty.

She said the encounter reminded her of the lasting impact her late pastor had on people’s lives.

According to Mdivo, she remained at the control centre until about 2:15 am, by which time engineers had substantially restored electricity in many parts of the country.

As she prepared to leave, she recalled being stopped by a security guard at the final exit gate, who offered his condolences over the loss of her pastor.

“Poleni sana Madam kumpoteza Pastor wenu. Mungu atawasaidia.”

Mdivo said the gesture deeply touched her, describing it as a reminder that even while she was focused on work, people were praying for and thinking about her.

Apology to Kenyans

The KPLC chair also apologised to Kenyans for the inconvenience caused by the blackout, insisting the outage was never intentional.

“Poleni kwa blackout, haikuwa kupenda kwetu,” she wrote.

She praised Kenya Power engineers and technical teams for their commitment, saying they worked tirelessly overnight to restore electricity while most Kenyans were asleep.

The nationwide blackout began shortly after 8:00 pm on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, disrupting electricity supply across Nairobi, the Coast region, Mt. Kenya and parts of the Central Rift.

In an initial statement, Kenya Power said technical teams were responding to a widespread grid failure, while the North Rift and Western regions remained largely unaffected.

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