Kenya Power raises concerns over surging transformers' vandalism in Murang'a

Kenya Power company has expressed concerns over growing incidences of vandalism that has seen Murang’a residents  go without power and causing the company immense losses.

The company said some of the vandals have been short-circuiting power wires and causing blackouts.

They then solicit money from the affected community in order to restore power.

The company’s branch manager Harrison Kamau said the criminals, further, sabotage their emergency team’s efforts to restore power by removing fuses from transformers. 

This, he said, is in a bid to increase frustration among residents and coerce them into yielding to their demands for illegal connections.

Last week, a man escaped death narrowly at Kirwara market in Gatanga after he was electrocuted on top of a transformer as he attempted to either remove or return a fuse.

The man is fighting for his life at Thika Level 5 hospital where he was taken for treatment.

“We immediately visited the scene and the hospital after we got information on the incident. We wish him a quick recovery but afterwards, we will have to charge him,” Kamau said.

The same week, other vandals shorted low voltage conductors causing a transformer to fail and thrusting Kiawaihiga village, still in Gatanga, into darkness for several days.

Kamau led his team to the village to install a new transformer that cost the company Sh500,000.

He also held a sensitisation meeting with residents to highlight the need for them to protect public utilities such as electricity infrastructure, in order for them to have constant power.

Kamau said there is an urgent need for Murang’a residents to familiarise themselves with the dangers associated with engaging third parties to the company’s power network.

“Apart from the self-injury from the perpetrators, the network is also left exposed to other members of the public,” he said.

Out of the 18 transformers vandalised in the Mt Kenya region this financial year, 11 are from Murang’a and valued at Sh5.5 million.

During the last financial year, 12 transformers were also vandalised.

The vandalism has affected the Kenya Power's service delivery and caused a great economic loss to the firm and its customers.

The company is also getting at least 50 reports of metre thefts each month, Kamau said.

He said criminals disguise as Kenya Power employees working on the metres only to end up removing and selling them to other unsuspecting customers.

They leave the vandalised homes without power or connect them to direct supply, exposing them to the offence of power theft.

“To strengthen our surveillance on the network, we are working with law enforcers and actively pursuing key suspects to be arraigned in court soon,” he said.

Those convicted face imprisonment of not less than five years or a fine of not less than five million or both.

Kamau cautioned residents against pruning or cutting down trees lying along power lines to avoid causing power outages and possible electrocution.

“If you want to cut down a tree that is near a power line, contact our offices so that we can come take down the line," he said.

"Afterwards, the tree can be cut safely and the line reconnected.”

Kamau urged Murang'a residents  to contact the county emergency line 0714117878 to give information on vandalism or report incidences of power failure.

The company’s head of security in the county Aaron Chekera said already, 17 people have been charged in various courts over vandalism this  year.

Two more cases have been finalised and the suspects convicted with one fined Sh1 million which he paid and was released, while the other was imprisoned for five years.

“The firm is losing a lot of money to  vandalism. If a transformer serving 200 homes is damaged, the company loses power worth Sh500,000 every day,” he said.

Chekera said the deliberate destruction is mostly affecting parts of Gatanga and Maragua that neighbour Kiambu county.

He said most of the vandals come from Kiambu.

The crude manner in which the cables, metres and transformers are destroyed indicate that they are not working in cahoots with Kenya Power staff, Chekera said.

“We are now in the process of installing smart metres that give their location and are easy to track,” he said.

John Kang’ethe, a resident of Kiawaihiga village said they have been suffering from consistent power outages that have affected their way of living.

The outages force them to travel to neighbouring villages to charge their mobile phones, affect their children’s studies and their agricultural activities.

“Most of us have installed chuff cutters that use power to feed our livestock yet we are constantly forced to do it manually,” he said.

Kang'ethe said they are also unable to pump water from their boreholes for their domestic activities.

He said as villagers, they will be vigilant and will use their mobile phones to take photos of vandals to report them to the authorities.

(Edited by Francis Wadegu)