Police in Makueni have recovered 299 bags of cement stolen from Thwake multipurpose dam site.
Makueni county police boss Joseph Napeiyan said the Power Plus cement valued at Sh188,925 was recovered from different stores within Makueni subcounty after a search.
Police recovered 125 bags in a store at Kaumoni shopping centre, 50 within Shimo estate in Wote town and another 54 bags in Mavindini market near the dam site.
The officers arrested one suspect and impounded a lorry registration number KBC 650C believed to have been used to transport the stolen goods from the dam site at the border of Kitui and Makueni counties.
The search for the stolen cement followed a report made at Kavumbu police station on July 27 by Shi Yu Song of China Gezhouba company, which is contracted to build the dam.
"The suspect with us will help us investigate how the cement left the site as we further search for 257 more bags that are missing as reported," Napeiyan told the Star on Tuesday.
He said the suspect revealed that he was hired to transport the stolen cement without knowing and he volunteered to provide information that led to the recovery.
Napeiyan said the suspects in whose premises the stolen cement was found were yet to be arrested.
He said the main suspect is a driver of the Chinese company who is at large and being sought by police.
"This is purely a crime that involves staff inside the dam site. We are taking responsibility as a police service to ensure all those who were involved are arrested and charges preferred against them," Napeiyan said.
Edited by Henry Makori
