- Kenya Power said they have partnered with National Government Administrative Officers so that they can have larger team fighting vandalism.
- They said a majority of Kenyans are being conned when it comes to electricity connections because they lack the right information.
Image: GEORGE OWITI
Kenya Power has decried increased vandalism of their infrastructure in Machakos county.
The company’s acting Nairobi regional manager Bernabas Muli said they lost 20 transformers worth Sh15 million to vandalism in Machakos county last year.
“Vandalism is a serious challenge that Kenya Power experiences in its infrastructure. For example, last year alone, we lost 20 transformers and that is a range of Sh15 million replacing them,” Muli said.
Muli spoke during a Kenya Power media workshop in Machakos town on Thursday.
Nairobi region covers Nairobi, Makueni, Machakos and Kajiado counties.
“Apart from the transformers, we had a huge damage of the infrastructure. Fifteen kilometres of conductors were vandalised, cut and taken away," Muli said.
"Street lights and lanterns were also vandalised and stolen, and replacing the transformers and conductors is costly.”
Muli added that each transformer costs at least Sh1 million to replace.
“It’s a huge loss to us. That’s an area we would like to partner with you so that you sensitise the public and our customers,” he told reporters during the workshop.
Muli was flanked by Kenya Power Machakos county business manager Maurice Owuor, customer experience officer Ruth Nzioka, design on construction officer Stephen Mwenyesi, operations and maintenance engineer Samwel Oeba and Makueni county manager Mark Irungu.
“To mitigate that, we have partnered with National Government Administrative Officers so that we can have a larger team fighting the vice,” he added.
Concerning power interruption, Muli said they had maintenance programmes, with Machakos county alone allocated Sh300 million for maintenance.
Muli said they had, in the region, a network extending to eight kilometres.
“We have programmes and set aside funds to ensure that we stabilise supply and the network is robust. And that we are able to deliver efficient services to our customers,” he said.
He added that they were working together with the National Youth Service in several programmes, including fall back activities.
“On NYS data, we have now embarked on what we call ‘fall back activities.’ We have started using the data to establish who has an illegal connection line. Since we started using the data, we are able to locate each metre,” Muli said.
He further said that President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ban on scrap metal trade was a positive move towards the war on vandalism.
“Infrastructure destruction is expensive. They destroy our transformers and copper stolen from them is sold locally in black market.”
Muli added that there was rampant illegal power connections in the Lower Eastern region.
Muli mentioned peri-urban areas like Mavoko and Kamulu as those more prone to vandalism of conductors and illegal connections as compared to other areas within the region.
Vandalism of transformers, he said, was rampant in Makueni, Machakos and Nairobi’s Ruai area.
Muli called on the public to report incidences of vandalism, illegal connections or any other criminal activities on Kenya Power property across the region through *977# for immediate action.
“Today we had an engagement with various representatives of media houses here in Machakos where we engaged on areas of support, especially in educating the masses on the products that we have as Kenya Power," he said.
"There are conmen who have been conning customers here especially on areas of connections and illegal lines. Kenyans are being conned because they don’t know. We have discussed on how customers can get our services by walking into our offices to avoid being conned.”
(edited by Amol Awuor)