A prominent businessman from Thika and a former Kenya Power technician were on Tuesday, February 15, arrested in connection with vandalization of infrastructure.
The tycoon and the former Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) employee were apprehended in Thika and Kayole by officers from the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB) of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
According to the DCI, the businessman is suspected to be at the center of a crime that saw the disappearance of electricity equipment worth millions of shillings from a site in Kushe area, Wundanyi.
"The two were arrested following the disappearance of electricity cables and other materials meant for a rural electrification project in Wundanyi," read the DCI statement in part.
In a well-coordinated plan, the two are said to have gained access to the warehouse and loaded the equipment to trucks, which ferried the stolen merchandise to Nairobi.
Following the raid, the CERIB officers recovered stolen cables and metal rods with some having been sold in the black market.
The accused are said to be part of a well-organized syndicate targetting equipment meant for Rural Electrification projects.
Working with top officials at Kenya Power, the suspects are said to receive tip-offs on where the projects will be undertaken and where the equipment such as wires, rods, and conductors will be stored.
"The businessman is well connected to engineers and technicians working with KPLC, who provide him with information on the sites where electricity connection is ongoing, before the equipment disappears," DCI wrote.
The arrest comes barely a month after President Uhuru Kenyatta called for charges of economic sabotage to be preferred against any individuals caught vandalising government infrastructure.
"It is clear that these are acts of economic sabotage which fall as a treasonable act and the law is clear on how you deal with these acts," the Head of State declared.
Uhuru also put a moratorium on the export or buying and selling of any scrap material until we have put in place proper guidelines that will ensure that material is not coming from the hard investments that the Kenyan people have made.
