Kenyan minister issues ‘rare’ apology after blackout plunges main airport terminal into darkness

Kenya’s transport minister issued an apology on Saturday (August 26) after a widespread electricity blackout that left several regions in the country, including Nairobi international airport in darkness for several hours. The government official also assured that no passengers or aeroplanes were put in danger by the outage which took place on Friday night.

Major blackout across Kenya

As per reports, the power went off across several parts of the country at around 9:45 pm (local time) on Friday. The electricity distribution company, Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) released a statement and reported “a system disturbance” which led to a loss of bulk power supply to various parts of the country.

In addition to the capital, with a population of five million, the main cities affected in the East African nation included Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret, reported AFP.

As of midday on Saturday, the KPLC reported that the power had been restored to most of the regions. However, as per reports, several areas of the capital and Mombasa, the second-largest city, were still without electricity.

What happened at the airport?

A report by Reuters, citing online footage from local broadcaster NTV showed passengers at the airport huddling around the main terminal at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in darkness. Some used mobile phone torches to light their way on one of Africa’s busiest hubs.

Kenya Airport Authority (KAA) said a generator serving the main terminals had failed to restart after the outage while the generators that serve the flight control tower and the airport runway were functional at all times, said the country’s Transport Minister Kipchumba Murkomen.

“I’m really sorry for what has happened at the (JKIA) with the blackout,” said Murkomen, on X (formerly Twitter) in a rare public apology by a government official. He added, “There is no excuse worth reporting and there is no reason why our airport is in darkness.”

The KPLC also said that it restored supply to the airport five hours after the incident began, while many homes and businesses across Kenya were still without power more than 15 hours after the blackout began.

While blackouts are not uncommon in Kenya, it is rare for them to affect operations at the airport.

(With inputs from agencies)

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