Police in Ithanga/Kakuzi in Murang'a County on Monday night rescued two youths from being lynched by irate villagers after they were nabbed vandalizing Kenya Power cables.
Deputy County Commissioner Angela Makau said the suspects were cornered following a nightlong vigil by members of the public and security officers.
"We received intelligence reports that there was to be vandalisation of Kenya Power cables. We were tipped that the theft would commence immediately the lights went off," she said.
At around 2 am, a village called Mútí was immersed into darkness after power transmission went off.
"The villagers who numbered about 50 and two police officers started scouting where the thieves were...and they were spotted about 50 metres from Mútí police patrol base," Ms Makau said.
She added that the irate members, tired of power blackouts due to vandalisation of electricity lines, started beating the two.
"The two police officers who were accompanying the villagers were overwhelmed. They called for backup and 10 more officers arrived...They found one suspected already on fire...They put out the fire and arrested the suspects," she said.
Ms Makau said 110 kilos of electrical cables were recovered and a motorcycle that was to ferry the loot also confiscated.
Ms Makau said vandalisation of Kenya Power equipment has been on the rise, sometimes plunging some areas into power blackouts running into days.
She said security officers have been partnering with Kenya Power to take the vandals to court, "but we have been facing setbacks in courts after the suspects we arraign get lenient sentencing".
"We need to be more serious on the way we handle electricity criminals. They fuel poverty by disconnecting businesses from power. They hurt the economy since taxpayers have to foot the bills of the vandalized infrastructure. Electricity is national security issue," she said.
