- He was charged with the offence of stealing energy equipment contrary to section 169 (1) (c) of the Energy Act 2019.
- The ruling comes as a big win to the KPLC which has been fighting hard end the rising cases of vandalism.
Image: FILE
A man who vandalized a customer’s electricity meter board has been sentenced to 10 years in prison or an alternative of a Sh5 million fine after pleading guilty.
Brian Wahome who appeared before a Nanyuki court was charged with the offence of stealing energy equipment contrary to section 169 (1) (c) of the Energy Act 2019.
He pleaded guilty to the charge before resident magistrate Lisper Gakii Nyaga.
The incident is said to have happened at Riverside estate in Timau town, Meru where upon a search by police he was found in possession of two cutouts, a switch, and the meter board.
The ruling is a big win for the Kenya Power company which has been fighting hard to end the rising cases of vandalism of its critical equipment.
While welcoming the court’s decision, the Company, in a statement, said this will go a long way in deterring vandalism and other illegal activities on the network.
“We are relentless in the fight against these crimes as they pose the danger of loss of life through electrocution and undermine the quality of power supply, beyond financial losses to the Company,” KPLC acting security services manager Paul Nyaga said.
“In the fight against illegal activities on the electricity distribution network, we have enlisted the support of various stakeholders including the National government administration officers. I urge members of the public to support this fight by way of reporting any suspicious activities on the network to the nearest police station or Kenya Power office.”
The sentencing comes barely four months after a similar one where a Nyandarua court found two suspects guilty of vandalizing and siphoning oil from a 100kva transformer and using the oil to cook potato chips.