Five suspects arrested in Uasin Gishu in relation to vandalization of electric transformer.

A prominent businesswoman in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, among five primary suspects arrested for the theft of Kenya Power equipment valued at over Sh500 million.

The suspects were apprehended at their respective locations during a coordinated operation involving police and security officers from Kenya Power’s regional office.

Uasin Gishu County Police Commander Benjamin Mwanthi confirmed the arrests, stating that the suspects are actively assisting with the investigation into the recent surge of transformer vandalism in the area.

The police chief also noted that a white pickup truck, utilized by the suspects to transport the stolen transformers and other electrical equipment to the businesswoman’s residence, has been confiscated.

“We have made a major breakthrough in the arrest of the masterminds of transformer theft.

Ainabkoi MP Samuel Chepkonga was among scores of victims of the transformer vandalism syndicate who thronged the central police station on learning about the apprehension of the five suspects.

“These are the same suspects who vandalised a transformer tower in my village, plunging homes, including that of my mother, in darkness,” said an agitated Chepkonga.

He revealed that the same fate befell a public primary school adjacent to the vast agricultural land owned by a top leader in the country.

The MP thanked the multi-agency security team making the arrests.

“This is economic sabotage and I call upon the Judiciary to help tame the vice by giving the offenders stiffer penalties to deter others,” said Chepkonga.

According to the police commander, the businesswoman was arrested in her well-guarded residential house in Kapsoya estate in the outskirts of Eldoret town where the officers recovered several litres of transformer oil, and assorted copper wires.

She is said to have converted one of the rooms in her house into a store where the stolen transformers are kept.

The woman is said to be working in cahoots with four accomplices.

The stolen items are then transported through the porous borders to a neighboring country, mostly at night to evade security officers.
“We discovered through our investigations that the syndicate was happening in Kaptagat, Nandi, Kakamega and Eldoret. Investigators who were monitoring their activities discovered that they would steal a transformer and then converge three days later and disappear,” the police boss said.