Back to Africa Check

Don’t send queries to ‘Kenya Power & Lighting Company (KPLC)’ – Philippines-based Facebook page impersonates Kenya Power

Kenyans have been messaging the Facebook page “Kenya Power & Lighting Company (KPLC)”, which has more than 100,000 followers, believing their queries would reach the state-owned electricity utility Kenya Power

But they’ve received no response.

The page clearly claims to represent Kenya power. “Kenya Power is a limited liability company which transmits, distributes and retails electricity to customers throughout Kenya,” its about section reads. It also links to Kenya Power’s official website, www.kplc.co.ke.

But almost all of the page’s posts are about engineering and business ventures elsewhere in the world, linking to the website GineersNow.

Yet the comments on the posts are mainly from desperate Kenyans asking for help with electricity problems in their neighbourhoods.

The page hasn’t been updated for years. Its most recent post is from 18 May 2017. But Kenya Power customers are still asking it for help, with many questions in the comments just weeks old.

Why isn’t “Kenya Power & Lighting Company (KPLC)” answering these questions?

KenyaPower_Fake

Verified page is ‘Kenya Power Care’

The page transparency section reveals that the page was created on 17 November 2012, and the people managing it are based in the Philippines, a nation of islands in southeast Asia.

On 16 November 2021, Kenya Power took to its official Facebook page to warn Kenyans that they shouldn’t send questions to fake Facebook pages bearing their logo.

“Good morning our esteemed customers, kindly beware of fake Facebook pages bearing our logo and answering your customer service-related queries,” it reads. “Our official page is Verified Kenya Power Care.”

The page “Kenya Power Care” was created on 22 March 2011, has 711,624 followers and always responds to customer queries. The page carries the blue tick verification badge – meaning that Facebook has confirmed that it represents Kenya Power – and is managed by people in Kenya.

The about section includes many ways Kenya Power customers can contact the utility.

It reads: “Got a question? Ask us here, on www.twitter.com/kenyapower or call 97771. Dial *977# to submit your meter readings, report a power outage or get your last three purchased tokens instantly.

Republish our content for free

Please complete this form to receive the HTML sharing code.

For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false

A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?

Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.

Publishers guide

Africa Check teams up with Facebook

Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.

The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.

You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.

Add new comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
limit: 600 characters

Want to keep reading our fact-checks?

We will never charge you for verified, reliable information. Help us keep it that way by supporting our work.

Become a newsletter subscriber

Support independent fact-checking in Africa.