Okoa Stima is a partnership service launched in 2015 between Safaricom & KPLC. The service was yet another invention that aimed to tap into the mobile loan craze that was gradually emerging into the Kenyan market.
Besides the convenience of purchasing tokens via the service, it’s MAIN selling point was the ability to access electricity on loan. i.e you could get electricity when you need it, then pay for it later!
The process required prior registration to the service which could be done by.
-Dialling *885#
-Providing your ID Number.
-Inputting your preferred pin
-Choosing your A/C type i.e prepaid or postpaid
-Entering the account number for a maximum of 3 meters.
Once registered, you could borrow any amount based on your pre-determined credit limit which had a facilitation fee of 10% and was repayable after 7 days.
The service was a much welcome relief (to say the least), to a large section of ‘financially struggling’ Kenyans but it would soon be short-lived as fate would have it.
In the following months/years, numerous scandals would dog the state-owned corporation responsible for transmitting, distributing and selling electricity within Kenya.
Such scandals ranged from multi-million procurement scams to inflated customer bills. These may have indirectly affected the service in one way or another because the majority of all future Okoa Stima requests either bring up ‘system maintenance’ issues.
For a couple of months now, the service currently stands at
“Dear customer, the service is currently unavailable. Please try again later”
Will this be the last of Okoa Stima service? Only time will tell! If not, RIP
