Kisii in darkness as KETRACO moves to restore power outage caused by vandals

Source: Capital FM Kenya
Author: Wangechi Purity

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 8 - Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) has urged residents of Kisii County to exercise patience as engineers work to restore power supply in the region.

This is after the area plunged into darkness early Tuesday morning after a gang attacked the KETRACO-owned Kegati 132/33kV power substation in Kisii and vandalized key equipment.

In a statement, the power transmission company said the gang vandalized critical control cables, thereby compromising the protection system.

"On May 7 at 3 a.m. vandals invaded KETRACO-owned Kegati 132/33kV Sub-station in Kisii County and vandalized critical control cables thereby compromising the protection system. During the attack, the vandals forced the operators on duty to switch off all supplies within control buildings, AC and DC," it stated.

KETRACO revealed that the attackers unsuccessfully attempted to switch off supply in the sub-station switchyard, where the damage was primarily concentrated in the control building and cable ducts.

"As a precautionary measure, two power transformers rated at 23MVA had to be isolated," it stated.

The sub-station being the main power transmission station in the region, caused a power outage across the entire county as a result of the Vandals attack.

The firm, however, said that the attack left one guard injured during the incident and that he is currently responding positively to treatment in the hospital.

It cautioned members of the public against vandalism activity, which is punishable by law under the Energy Act 2019.

"If found involved in the mentioned criminal activities under the Act, one would be liable to a fine of not less than Sh 5 million. The person may also face a term of imprisonment of ten years or both." It warned.