John Magiro may not have stepped into engineering class, but has created a solution in his village by supplying cheap electricity to over 300 households.
Various sources have it that Magiro, who resides in Murang’a, was born in an area that had no electricity. The sole source of power was in the nearest town centre, which was quite some distance on foot.
So dull was the life that the young man decided to take matters into his own hands. Despite performing poorly in physics, he used his knowledge to produce hydroelectric power using parts of an old bicycle and managed to power his mother’s house.
Within a period of three years, he managed to build small turbines to provide electricity to his community before later teaming up with a Belgium businessman to find a company for electricity.
“In my village, there was no connection of power. The main challenge was that I did not have access to power for my studies. I was, at that time, using paraffin,” he said.
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The young man uses water from River Sagana to generate cheap electricity. Part of the water is directed downward to increase its speed fast enough to run the turbines and channeled back to the river.
The power generated is then supplied to households in the region. His project has so far benefited hundreds of households as well as farmers who were struggling with losses due to national power outages.
“We have also improved farming because right now, they can use electricity to pump water to their homes. Students are also now able to learn online since they have power,” he noted.
“We used to rely on the national electricity, which had hitches. Sometimes, the power went off, which would bring loss to our poultry farming businesses. That’s why we opted to use Magiro’s electricity, which has been beneficial.” one of the residents said.
The innovation saw Magiro recognized by the National Environment Trust Fund (NETFUND), an organization that awards and incubate green innovations in the field of Nature-based Enterprise, Water, Waste Management, and Energy.
