The Government will soon embark on an ambitious programme to supply electricity to one million homes, especially in rural areas, in the next five years.

Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi has said access to electricity among Kenyans was still "extremely low" compared to consumers in other African countries.

"In Kenya, for example, only 10 per cent of the population - about 3.4 million people - have access to electricity supply compared to 58 per cent and 98 per cent among the population in Zambia and Algeria respectively," Mr Murungi said.

The Ministry of Energy, Mr Murungi added, plans to supply electricity to all public health centres, schools and administration centres in rural areas countrywide in the next two years.

"The demand for electricity is rising at more than six per cent annually, and my ministry is, therefore, promoting investments in power generation through joint ventures with various stakeholders."

He added: "It is our intention that in the next five years, we shall be able to increase our power production by diversifying our reliance from hydro- power generation to wind generation and expanding our solar energy network in order to meet supply demand by our consumers."

The ministry also plans to undertake a "massive" tree-planting programme, especially in rural areas, in a bid to meet the demand for 70 per cent of Kenya's population, which depends on firewood for their cooking.

Mr Murungi outlined the programme as he addressed senior heads of departments during a meeting held at the ministry's offices at Nyayo House, Nairobi.

Mr Murungi said the Mombasa-Nairobi oil pipeline was being enhanced to increase the pumping capacity from the current 440,000 litres per hour to 880,000 litres per hour.

"This project, which is expected to be completed by August, will assist in reducing the current high traffic of road tankers between Mombasa and Nairobi and beyond," he said.