NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 9 – At least five suspects have been arrested by the Kenya Power Security team for vandalising transformers.
James Ng’ang’a, who is believed to be the mastermind, was arrested at his home in Karugia, within the Saba Saba area.
Ng’ang’a was arrested and booked at Kenol Police Station during a weekend-long operation that was supported by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation’s Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB) and National Government Administration Officers (NGAO).
He was found in possession of Kenya Power’s service cable upon a search of his house.
Likewise, a vandal identified as Vincent Gatoto Ndumia was arrested at Keria village near Mitarakwa factory within Murang’a County while attempting to vandalise a 100KVA transformer.
At the time of his arrest, Gatoto was driving a motor vehicle belonging to Ng’ang’a.
Upon further investigations and interviews by the security team, it was established that Gatoto was working under instruction from Ng’ang’a, who was the receiver of the vandalised transformers.
“I want to thank the DCI and NGAO officers for the swift action during the operations that we carried out over the weekend,” Kenya Power acting Security Services Manager Paul Nyaga said.
“We will continue carrying out surveillance on the network to weed out all illegal activities that not only endanger the lives of the vandals but also pose danger of loss of life to members of the public,” he added.
“I ask members of the public to be watchful of energy infrastructure and report suspicious activities to the nearest police station or Kenya Power office.”
During the operation, the multi-agency security team also trailed and arrested four more suspects who are believed to be part of a larger syndicate driving the vandalism of transformers and other electricity equipment within the counties of Murang’a and Nyeri.
In a search of their homesteads in Gikondi, Mukurweini recovered copper windings that were obtained from vandalised transformers.
Beyond posing the danger of electrocution, transformer vandalism results in financial losses to the company in the form of lost opportunities for electricity sales and the allocation of additional financial resources to replace the vandalised units.
