Kenya Power has joined forces with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in a bid to curb the escalating cases of electricity theft and avert vandalism.
In a statement on Thursday, Kenya Power Managing Director Dr Joseph Siror said that DCI has attached 42 officers to work hand in hand with Kenya Power’s security team to stem out those interfering with the companies properties and connections.
“We have witnessed a recent surge in cases of vandalism and illegal connections across the country leading to unplanned power outages that inconvenience our customers. The Company is working with various security agencies, including collaboration with the DCI, to tackle these illegal activities and are confident that this will boost our capacity to proactively fight vandalism and other crimes through an intelligence-led approach,” said Dr Siror.
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He went on to say that the company has witnessed a recent surge in cases of vandalism and illegal connections across the country leading to unplanned outages that inconvenience the power consumers.
“We are confident that the partnership with DCI will boost our capacity to proactively fight vandalism and other crimes through an intelligence-led approach'” he said.
Beyond the loss of revenue for the company, vandalism and illegal connections expose the public to the danger of electrocution, additionally, vandalism compromises the quality of power supply and directly affects the economy as reliable electricity supply is crucial for economic growth.
The Deputy Director for investigations at the DCI, Paul Wachira said that the agency will continue supporting investigations and protecting the energy sector against criminal activities whenever the agency is called upon.
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“We will work collaboratively for purposes of following the money trail, especially among those handling stolen copper and oil from vandalized transformers, so that masterminds of these activities are arrested and prosecuted,” he added
Since July last year , a total of 1026 people have been arrested across the country and prosecuted for various illegal activities within the electricity network.
