Kenya Power on the spot over increased transformer vandalism in Limuru

Five villages from Ndeiya Sub County in Limuru Constituency are living in darkness after more than 20 transformers were vandalized by criminals in a span of a month.

On Friday the villagers woke up to another scene of five transformers that were vandalized thereby plunging them into darkness which is a threat to their security.

Speaking at the scene of crime, Pastor Kîige one of the affected villagers, claimed the vandalism is sabotage and would force them back into poverty as they have been reliant on new technological methods in farming. 

"Kenya Power should invent ways of dealing with such incidences. For example, they could install alarms which go off once anyone attempts to interfere with the transformer. (Kenya Power wanafaa kuweka alarm kwa vikingi ili mtu akiguza transformer inapiga nduru na sisi tunaamka kuchunga hiyo mali yetu)," Kiige added.

Jennifer Ndirangu one the dairy farmers said their business has been affected as most rely on chaff cutters to ease feeding of livestock. 

"We dont understand what their motive is because they only make away with some of the transformer oil, leaving most parts which could be sold off as scrap metal. (Hatujui hasa ni nini wanapora kwa hizi transformers sababu hata chuma wanaacha. Tunaskia mara wanabeba mafuta lakini hatuelewi), Ndirangu lamented.

This comes amid Kenya Power's plan to increase the cost of electricity by up to 78 percent starting April 2023. However, this will only take effect once Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) approves of new tariffs seeking to withdraw subsidies that cushion poor households.