Olkaria-Narok power line vandalized – KBC

Vandalism along the Olkaria-Narok power line which is under construction has delayed its commissioning by close to one year.

The contractor involved in the works on the 132kv power line has lost millions of shillings due to the vandals that are targeting power cables.

The 63km line that was set to be completed in November last year has now been delayed with equipment worth over Sh12m vandalized since August last year.

The move comes a couple of months after the President banned scrap metal business following the vandalism of various power towers in the country.

In the latest incident, vandals have hit sections of the power line mainly in Narasha area on the border of Narok and Naivasha carting away over 3,000 meters of the transmission cables.

According to Gideon Mulwa from China Camse engineering company, the recent attacks had a major impact on the ongoing works.

Mulwa said that the KETRACO project was initially set to be completed in November but due to the vandalism this had been delayed.

“We have lost transmission cables worth over Sh12m and we are asking the police to go for the mastermind behind this theft,” he said.

The senior officer from the company termed the project as very critical to the nation and investors working around Narok and nearby towns.

“We thank the President for banning scrap-metal business as it had effects on power lines and we are calling on the locals to report any persons vandalizing the cables,” he said.

One of the area youth leaders Peter Shaa said that theft had occurred in a span of two weeks by people who had been ferried to the area.

He told how they were woken by a bang only to find that the power cables had been cut off by the vandals.

“We managed to recover all the stolen materials that had been hidden in the bushes but unfortunately the suspects managed to escape,” he said.

On his part, another witness David Kanyingi noted that those involved were outsiders who were using personal cars to ferry the vandalized materials.

“Those behind the theft are people who are conversant with this work and we suspect that they come from Mai Mahiu or Nairobi,” he said.

Speaking on phone, Ntulele OCPD Jared Marandi said that last month they managed to arrest one suspect following a tip-off from members of the public.

“We managed to recover some of the vandalized materials and the suspect has since been taken to court and charged with various offences,” he said.