state-owned company, the auditor general carries out the external audit, which is contracted out to a reputable independent audit firm.

**Table 9. Utility management index of utilities in Kenya and comparators,** 2015

||Senegal<br>SENELEC|Kenya<br>Kenya Po|Tanzania <br>wTANESCO|Uganda<br> UMEME|International<br>benchmark|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Utility Management**|**56%**|**80%**|**65%**|**76%**|64%|
|_Financial Discipline_|_57%_|_76%_|_64%_|_77%_|59%|
|_Human Resource_|_57%_|_64%_|_71%_|_71%_|62%|
|_Information and Technology_|_53%_|_100%_|_60%_|_80%_|71%|

Note: Scores based on index developed for the Rethinking Power Sector Reform Project. For more details go to project website at http://www.esmap.org/rethinking_power_sector_reform KPLC has a highly competent and technically qualified staff, putting Kenya’s scores for human resources policies in line with the average for the global benchmark group (table 9). Although salaries are fixed by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (as it is state-owned company), KPLC is considered an attractive employer in Kenya. Managerial autonomy with respect to staff decisions remains somewhat restricted. In 2018, KPLC had 11,270 staff, of whom 32 percent had short-term or contract status. About 20 percent of the staff are women. The utility runs its own training school, open to all Kenyans, from which it hires part of its technical staff. In addition to hiring graduates of the training school, staff recruitment is done by internal advertisement, with subsequent short-listing and interviewing. Higher-level posts, such as senior managers and general managers, are the subject of external searches conducted by reputable human-resources firms, with short-listing and interviewing facilitated by the firms.

Kenya again outperforms the cohort when it comes to information and communications technology and internal business procedures (table 9). The utility has put in place exhaustive formal procedures for major operations. It also employs the latest IT solutions for increasing reliability of supply and for serving customers better.

# _3.3.3 Summary_

A prominent feature of Kenyan power sector reform is the strong performance of the two publicly listed power companies, KPLC (transmission and distribution) and KenGen (generation). Operational performance has improved consistently throughout the reform process, with collections reaching 100 percent in some years. There is room for improvement on technical and commercial losses, which stand at 20 percent. Financial performance has also been strong, but has suffered recently from a partially unfunded mandate on electrification. Despite some political influence, KPLC was already a good regional performer ahead of the structural reforms, but it experienced deteriorating performance during the supply crisis of the 1990s. Following unbundling, the introduction of robust policy and legislation, and the advent of performance contracts, KPLC is again a top performer in the region. The company has a fair credit rating of B1 (though there were a few defaults in payments to IPPs in FY 2016 and 2018); a remarkable achievement in a region where most power utilities are not even rated and cannot raise any commercial debt. When it comes to utility governance, financial discipline, and other internal functions, KPLC is ahead of the global benchmark group on most items.

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