Kenya Power's prepaid token purchasing system experienced a widespread failure on Thursday morning, July 30, 2026, leaving thousands of customers unable to buy electricity following a major overnight blackout across key regions.
Transaction failures began surfacing around 6:00 a. m.
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on Thursday as users attempting to top up their prepaid accounts through mobile money applications received internal error notifications and automated cancellation alerts.
The payment system disruption followed a nationwide electricity outage that began at approximately 8:30 p. m.
on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, due to a sudden system disturbance on the national grid network.
The grid failure plunged Nairobi, the Coast region, Mt.
Kenya, and parts of the Central Rift into darkness during peak evening hours, forcing commercial establishments to rely on backup generators while small businesses closed early.
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Kenya Power technical crews initiated emergency restoration procedures during the night, progressively reconnecting power supply across Mt. Kenya, North Rift, Western, South Nyanza, and parts of Nairobi.
The power distributor confirmed that electricity supply was largely re-established to affected regions overnight, although customers remained unable to buy prepaid tokens despite power returning to the grid.
"We wish to inform our esteemed customers that we are experiencing a widespread power outage affecting customers in Nairobi, Coast, Mt Kenya and parts of Central Rift," Kenya Power said on Wednesday, July 29, 2026.
The utility firm noted that sections of the North Rift and Western regions remained connected to supply during the initial disturbance, while engineers worked to stabilize the remaining power network.
"We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience as restoration efforts continue," the company said.
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The company, which serves more than 9.6 million customers across the country, had not issued a public statement regarding the mobile payment failure by Thursday morning.
