On the evening of Wednesday, July 29, 2026, a significant power outage swept across Nairobi and multiple counties, marking the first nationwide blackout this year, Kenya Power confirmed.
The blackout began around 8:30 pm, impacting extensive areas including Nairobi's Central Business District (CBD), the Coast, Mt Kenya region, and parts of the Central Rift Valley. Thousands of residents reported power losses on social media as the outage disrupted daily activities, transport services, and businesses.
In Nairobi, most of the CBD plunged into darkness, with only select buildings running on backup generators. Key commercial streets such as Kenyatta Avenue, Moi Avenue, and Tom Mboya Street saw early closures due to the blackout. Traffic lights across major roads went offline, causing congestion that required intervention by county marshals and police officers.
Commuters at Nairobi Railway Station and the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) station also experienced power interruptions, further complicating transport operations.
The blackout extended beyond Nairobi, affecting neighborhoods along Thika Road including Kahawa Sukari, parts of Kiambu, Nakuru, and Shanzu in Mombasa. Residents in Ongata Rongai reported outages, while some areas like Lang'ata and Kayole maintained electricity supply.
Kenya Power's Response
At 9:05 pm, Kenya Power issued a customer alert acknowledging the widespread power failure across Nairobi, the Coast, Mt Kenya, and parts of the Central Rift. The utility confirmed that parts of the North Rift and Western Kenya were still receiving power. Technical teams were promptly deployed to restore electricity and customers were urged to bear with the inconvenience.
This blackout follows a similar incident in December 2025, when a fault in the national transmission network caused extensive outages before phased restoration.
Separately, Kenya Power had announced scheduled maintenance for July 28 in Kisumu, Nyeri, Embu, and Kirinyaga counties, unrelated to the blackout event.
