A court in Nakuru has sentenced a man to 30 years in prison or a fine of Kshs.15 million for vandalizing a KPLC metre electric conductor valued at Ksh.60,000.
The accused, Edwin Kiplangat Ngeno, appeared before Chief Magistrate A.P Ndege on Wednesday, August 2.
Ngeno was charged with three counts: vandalism of energy equipment and infrastructure, stealing of energy equipment and unlawfully handling of energy equipment, contrary to section 169 of the Energy Act of 2019.
Police arrested him on July 26, in possession of the conductor at Stoo Mbili township in Njoro sub-county, Nakuru county.
Recent Sentence
The sentence came a week after police arrested another suspect at Timau town within Meru County, and charged at Nanyuki law courts where he was sentenced to 10 years in prison with the option of a Kshs.5 million fine.
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Kenya Power Comment
Kenya Power’s Acting Security Services Manager Major Paul Nyaga Gichovi welcomed the judgment saying it will go a long way to deter similar crimes.
“Through collaboration with various government institutions, the Company has scaled up surveillance on its infrastructure in order to stamp out illegal activities from the network.
I want to thank the Judiciary for the support that they have accorded this important exercise and call on the public to join this fight by reporting any suspicious activities on the network to the nearest police station or Kenya Power office,” he said.
Further, KPLC said vandalism and theft of electricity pose a danger of loss of life through electrocution to the vandal and other people who are exposed to the sub-standard power connections.
In addition, these crimes compromise the quality of power supply and lead to loss of revenue for the Company.
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About KPLC
The Kenya Power and Lighting Company PLC (Kenya Power) is a listed company on the Nairobi Stock Exchange – NSE, and the country’s only electricity off taker that transmits, distributes, and retails power to customers throughout Kenya.
In the period between 1922 to date, it has extended its transmission and distribution network across the country, covering a total of 248,834 kilometres.
As of June 2021, the Company had over 8.3 million accounts and had enabled 75% of the country’s population to access the national grid, making Kenya rank top in the world in terms of connectivity pace according to the World Bank’s ‘Energy Progress Report’ for 2021.
The Company’s vision is to be Kenya’s energy solutions provider of choice by sustainably supplying quality and reliable service to power people for better lives to support the country’s socio-economic development using innovation and leveraging on technology.
