Nairobi — Nanyuki Law Court has jailed a man for 10 years or ordered him to pay a fine of Sh5 million for vandalizing a customer's electricity meter board at Riverside in Timau Town, Meru County.

The accused, Brian Wahome, had been charged with stealing energy equipment contrary to Section 169 (1) of the Energy Act 2019.

Some of the gadgets he was caught with include cutouts, a switch, and a meter board.

Wahome, however, pleaded guilty before Resident Magistrate Lisper Gakii Nyaga.

Kenya Power's acting Security Services Manager, Paul Nyaga Gichovi (Rtd.), welcomed the judgment, describing it as a big boost to the fight against vandalism.

"This sentence will go a long way to deter vandalism and other illegal activities on the network," Nyaga said.

"We are relentless in the fight against these crimes as they pose the danger of loss of life through electrocution and undermine the quality of power supply, beyond financial losses to the Company," he added.

Wahome's sentencing comes four months after a similar ruling was handed down by the Engineer Law Court in Nyandarua to two suspects who were found guilty of vandalizing and siphoning oil from a 100kva transformer and using the oil to cook potato chips.

"In the fight against illegal activities on the electricity distribution network, we have enlisted the support of various stakeholders including the National Government Administration Officers," he said.

"I urge members of the public to support this fight by way of reporting any suspicious activities on the network to the nearest police station or Kenya Power office."