Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has resumed its prepaid electricity token vending and bill payment services following a nationwide system disruption on Thursday, 30 July 2026.

The outage, which began in the morning, affected all payment channels, including M-Pesa, preventing customers from purchasing tokens or paying bills. This left many households without electricity despite power being restored in their areas.

At 3:35 pm, KPLC issued a statement confirming the restoration of its prepaid payment platforms but warned that a surge in transaction volumes was causing delays in token delivery.

KPLC statement: "The high number of transactions is causing delays in the delivery of tokens to customers. We are working to clear the backlog as soon as possible to ensure real-time delivery."

Customer Reactions

Many Kenyans took to social media to express frustration over delayed tokens despite successful payments.

  • @Dylar004: "Transaction failed, M-PESA cannot complete payment of Ksh1000.00 to KPLC PREPAID. Please try again shortly."
  • @000_georgy: "Bought this token but has not been sent. Confirmed Ksh.61.00 sent to KPLC PREPAID."
  • @KharinaMiss: "Managed to get tokens but can't load them because they're being rejected."
  • @itssoita: "Restoration wapi? Io pesa mmechukua tokens ziko wapi?"
  • @Jonkaz4: "I am yet to receive my token having already paid since afternoon."
  • @sule_rama: "Bought token an hour ago but the message hasn't been sent yet."

KPLC apologised for the inconvenience and assured customers that clearing the backlog remains a priority to restore normal service.

Related Power Blackout

This disruption follows a widespread power blackout on the night of 29 July 2026, which affected major towns including Nairobi, Mombasa, and parts of the Mt. Kenya and Central Rift regions. While some areas in the North Rift and Western regions remained unaffected, the blackout caused significant public concern.

KPLC confirmed the blackout and deployed technical teams to restore electricity supply promptly, apologising for the inconvenience caused.