Kenya’s electricity company, Kenya Power, has made a startling revelation that criminals in the Eastern African nation have been vandalising its electric transformers and extracting the fluid in them and selling it to restaurants and roadside stalls as cooking oil for food preparation.
This criminal activity has been making the company lose millions of dollars.
The increase in vandalism of transformers in Kenya has been linked to the rising cost of cooking oil, which has forced some businesses to turn to unorthodox methods to try and keep afloat.
Health experts warn that transformer oil, which looks like cooking oil, is unsafe for human consumption and poses serious health risks.
A statement issued by Kenya Power noted that there has been a sharp increase in vandalism in central Kenya, where nearly 20 transformers were either destroyed or interfered with.
Harrison Kamau, the company’s business manager in Murang’a County, cited an incident where a vandal “was electrocuted on top of a transformer while attempting to remove/return fuses.
“He is currently admitted to the Thika General Hospital with life-threatening injuries,” the Kenya Power official said.
Of chips mwitu and the likes…stay woke!
Transformer oil contains polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) which pose a major health risk to consumers.
TOGETHER we can eliminate vandalism! Dial Toll-free 991 today. #KomeshaUhalifu pic.twitter.com/6zpJnP5Noq
— The Kenya Power & Lighting Company Plc. (@KenyaPower) March 31, 2022
At least, 22 people have recently been arrested and their cases are currently in court.
Kenya Power has now started a nationwide awareness campaign about the dangers of vandalising the grid, and this comes as the company struggles with constant power blackouts.
In January, a national blackout seen as the worst in years was blamed on the vandalism of steel pylons for scrap metal, which led to the collapse of the power grid.
Source: energynewsafrica.com