Man admits to illegal electricity connection in Mukuru kwa Ruben
A man arrested by members of the public and Nyumba Kumi officials while connecting electricity to his customers in Mukuru kwa Reuben slums, in Nairobi, pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful electricity installations.
John Maina was charged at the Makadara Law Courts with unlawfully installing a conductor contrary to section 168 (1) (c) of the Energy Act of 2019 and he admitted the charges.
He had tapped electricity from a main supply line belonging to the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) to supply electricity to his customers without the consent of the KPLC.
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Maina was arrested by the members of the public who informed the Nyumba Kumi officials who escorted him to Reuben police station together with the tools he was using including a wooden ladder he was using to scale electricity poles. His accomplice escaped during the arrest.
Officers at the station informed the KPLC security staff who visited the station and interrogated Mr Maina before proceeding to the scene where he was arrested while illegally tapping electricity to extend to his customers to gather evidence.
They prepared an inventory of the tools that Maina was using in the illegal activity and listed them as exhibits in the case against him. Maina admitted the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Monica Kivuti.
Two of the Nyumba Kumi officials and two KPLC security officers had been listed as witnesses in the case against Maina but they will not testify since he did not deny the charges.
Maina was remanded in custody until October 9 when the state prosecution office will table evidence and exhibits to court before he is convicted and sentenced.
The Act states that anyone who lays erects or installs any conductor or apparatus and connects it, or permits it to be connected, with any electric supply line through which electrical energy is supplied by a licensee (KPLC), without the consent of KPLC commits an offense and upon conviction, will be liable to a fine not less than one million and a jail term of not less than one year, or both.