Why we need concerted effort to rid our economy of vandalism

In Kenya, where 60 per cent of the population is connected to power, electricity can easily be taken for granted. One may particularly attribute this to a high access rate that has, for instance, seen four million households get connected to the national grid in the past four years alone.

We in industry, however, appreciate that an information gap exists between the consumer and the amount of electricity that the country generates, transmits and distributes for use. It is due to that information gap that vices such as illegal connections, meter tampering, bypassing and vandalism have thrived. And unknown to most Kenyans, these vices lead to electricity losses running into billions of shillings that consumers are eventually asked to pay via power tariffs.

Economic drivers

Let’s pick vandalism as our elephant in the room. This is a vice that has the potential to curtail the country’s development cycle. It is not restricted to the power transmission lines. Most of the infrastructure projects, including transformers and the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), have in the recent past suffered from vandalism.One only needs to recall a recent event when the Inspector General of Police, Joseph Boinett, complained that the SGR infrastructure was being vandalised before its maiden voyage.

The International Monetary Fund has in the past stated that key elements required to propel economic growth in Kenya include telecommunications and manufacturing, the two variables overly dependent on uninterrupted power supply. Yet with the increasing vandalism among other economic crimes, the possibilities are vaguely remote.

Some blame its escalation on abject poverty and high rate of unemployment, which may push desperate individuals into stripping steel cables for sale to scrap metal dealers for quick cash. Pull and push factors aside, the effects and implications of vandalism are diverse but they collectively lead to losses that count in billions of shillings to the local economy.

With anecdotal illustration, allow me to paint a picture of how costly this vice is.  Imagine having your iPhone 8 plus purchased for more than Sh100,000 snatched from you and resold for less than Sh3,000. That is the reality everywhere and in some cases, even worse. Recently, KETRACO’s underground cables linking Nairobi to Coast Region were vandalised more than once and the replacement cost has now reached over Sh810 million, taking into account material purchase, shipping and civil work expenses but excluding the time factor.

Other infrastructure firms like railways operators, power distributors, telcos and pipeline managers have reported countless malicious theft and vandalism cases. If the losses KETRACO made in one instance is anything to go by, then the nationwide impact of this vice is unfathomable. Socially, the effects have been drastic as many lives are lost due to electrocution which to a large extent contributes to further consequences such as loss of family bread winners and reduction of our labour force.

The number of vandalism-related cases has shot up. For instance, audacious vandals recently went to the degree of damaging a section of the SGR just a few days before the presidential launch on June 1. The President responded with a declaration that such acts amount to economic sabotage, a capital offence punishable by hanging. We all have to do something in the wake of this severe scenario that risks upsetting our positive growth trajectory.

Solutions

Perhaps borrowing a leaf from other sectors, increased policing by security agencies and communities as well as applying stiffer penalties could offer the remedy. A good example is that of Kenya National Highways Authority’s (KENHA) Sh85,000 fine posted along all the major highways. Nobody has dared to stick posters on KENHA’s infrastructure. If we could have laws outlawing the second-hand sale of steel members, aluminium, copper and other forms of metal from unknown sources, we would be halfway done with this war.

Surveillance, community policing initiatives, awareness campaigns like Kenya Power’s Mulika Mwizi that highlights the problem, are all ingredients that if well deployed will help destroy the vice. It is by ridding our market of vandalism that we can guarantee ourselves a stable economy that attracts foreign direct investments. Time is ripe for our Government to join hands with all the affected parties to slay this dragon.

Mr Barasa is the Managing Director, KETRACO, and immediate past Chairman, ICPAK.