Kenya’s rural to urban migration trends have been on the rise despite interventions and developments like devolution amongst many measures.

One of the critical game-changers that could buck this trend is electrical connectivity.
 
The Rural Electrical and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC), is at the epicenter of discharging this noble mandate. Rural electrification is a force multiplier in the creation of jobs at the grassroots, in effect, stemming the tide of rural to urban migration.

This emerged during the commencement of performance evaluation for the year 2023-2024 by the Public Service Performance Management Unit (PSPMU).
 
Eliud Owalo, the Deputy Chief of Staff, Performance and Delivery Management led the exercise at the REREC’s headquarters in Nairobi.
 
“Last mile connectivity is in line with our Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda which targets to improve lives and livelihoods of those at the bottom of the pyramid. Access to electricity creates jobs at the grassroots and thereby reduces the phenomenon of rural to urban migration,” Owalo explained.

Amongst REREC’s stated targets are the development and promotion of renewable energy and the enhancement of electrical connectivity.
 
“The government takes this exercise very seriously, and public institutions must justify their existence. We want this framework cascaded all the way down and those institutions that exceed expectations shall be rewarded and those that don’t, sanctioned.” Owalo added.
 
 
According to the Corporation CEO Dr Rose Mkalama, REREC has embarked on a strategy of enhancing electrification through collaboration with counties and constituencies.

In this formula dubbed shilling for shilling matching strategy, the Corporation shares the cost of electrification equitably with either the County or NGCDF. REREC, in this strategy, meets half the cost of the undertaking with the other party taking the balance. This means more projects can then be accomplished. This contributes to the over-arching government strategy of attaining universal access to electricity by the year 2030.