A Kenya Power employee attached to the utility firm’s Donholm office has been arrested over claims of demanding and receiving a Sh30,000 bribe to reconnect electricity at a residential house.
The arrest was carried out by officers from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), who also nabbed another suspect believed to have worked with the employee in the alleged scheme.
In a statement on Friday, EACC said the arrest followed a complaint from a resident whose electricity supply had reportedly been disconnected two days earlier.
The complainant claimed that the employee of the power company required Sh30,000 before reconnection.
“An EACC operative was tipped off by a resident who alleged that a staff member of Kenya Power, accompanied by an accomplice, solicited a bribe to provide electrical power to a residential property,” the statement said.
As per sources informed about the development, detectives initiated the operation following the receipt of a complaint, and then proceeded to monitor the communication between the suspects and the complainant before making the arrest.
The suspects were taken to the Integrity Centre in Nairobi for interrogation and processing as the investigations continued.
The current arrest comes amid several complaints regarding bribery from individuals requiring the service of reconnection of electricity.
Over the last few months, there have been several reports of people being threatened by some technicians to pay money to reconnect electricity following its official disconnection.
Recently, another Kenya Power technician based in the Mbale-Vihiga office was arrested for demanding a Sh20,000 bribe from a complainant.
EACC operatives conducted an undercover investigation following a complaint against the employee of the firm.
As per EACC, it has not concluded investigations and continues with them.
