Man Who Managed Nairobi Power Lines Retires After 35 Years Of Service

Kenya Power has announced the retirement of Charles Mwaura after 35 years of service. Mwaura, popularly known as “Papa” inside Kenya Power, has been serving as the company’s General Manager, Network Management, until his retirement on Friday, May 31, 2024.

Mwaura joined Kenya Power in 1989 and has worked in the Operations & Maintenance (O&M) Division at Kenya Power for most of his life.

After finishing the two-year graduate engineer apprenticeship after joining the utility firm, Mwaura joined O&M at emergency services and later became the Common Services Engineer (the team that handled underground cables and 66kV sub-transmission in Nairobi).

“After serving Kenya Power for a good 35 years (from January 1989 to May 2024), outgoing General Manager, Network Management, Eng. Charles Mwaura, on Friday, 31st, 2024, bid the Company kwaheri in a colourful ceremony attended by dozens of staff members,” Kenya Power announced.

“During the event held at Stima Club in Nairobi, Eng. Mwaura arrived on top of a live-line truck and handed over his work equipment, a reflector jacket, and helmet as staff cheered on. Popularly known as ‘Papa,’ a moniker he gained for his fatherly and humble approach to issues.”

Eng. Mwaura rose through the ranks to become the Chief Engineer of Common Services in Nairobi.

In 2014, he became the Regional Manager for the Nairobi North Region. Papa later became the General Manager of Network Management in December 2019, a position he held until retirement.

“Eng. Mwaura was part of the brainchild of Liveline operations in distribution and sub-transmission networks,” Kenya Power stated.

He has also been the Chairman of the Status of the Network Committee, an energy sector committee.

He is the most experienced engineer in underground cables, which he revamped and equipped with the capacity to handle all voltages up to 220kV.

He has worked all his time in Nairobi, mainly because of the concentration of underground cables.

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