A man has been jailed for two years for cooking chips using transformer oil.
Mr Elijah Mwangi Muthoga, who runs an eatery, was given an option of paying a fine.
According to the Kenya Power Company, Muthoga was arrested with 11 litres of transformer oil.
“The oil was used to cook chips at his hotel as well as repackaged for sale as popcorn cooking oil,” the company said in a statement.
His co-accused, Zachary Mwangi Gitau, from whom he obtained the transformer oil, was handed a 10-year jail term.
It was revealed that he vandalized his community’s transformer to retrieve the oil.
Currently, Kenya Power has heightened surveillance of the network through partnerships with other security-providing companies.
The government has also stamped out illegal activities to safeguard electricity assets.
“Vandalism of transformers is one of the leading causes of power outages. In addition to undermining the quality and reliability of the electricity supply, transformer vandalism poses a risk of electrocution and exposes the company to financial losses in lost sales and the cost of replacing the transformers,” the statement further read.
