NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 20 – President Uhuru Kenyatta has banned any exports or dealings in scrap metal until proper guidelines are put in place to regulate the sector.
Speaking Thursday during the passing out parade of the 298 direct entry Inspectorate cadet officers in Kiganjo, the Head of State cited increased vandalism of government infrastructure which he described as economic sabotage.
“As of today, we will no longer allow, and we have put a moratorium on the export or the buying or selling of any scrap material until we have put in place proper guidelines that will ensure that material is not coming from the hard-won investments that the Kenyan people have made,”
President Kenyatta stated that tough action will be taken against anyone found culpable of vandalism.
We will not allow you to destroy that which is for the growth and development of our country to benefit a few individuals’ pockets. That we will not allow. That is economic sabotage, and the law is very clear on how such people should be dealt with,” he said.
The move comes a day after the court allowed police to detain nine senior Kenya Power officials following the recent countrywide power outage in the country that has been linked to negligence and sabotage.
The suspects were arraigned before trial magistrate Boaz Ombewa where the Director of Public Prosecutions sought for twenty-one days, a move opposed by the defense lawyers led by Dansan Omari.
According to the DPP, the investigating officers needed more time to probe and establish the cause of the black out that rocked the country last week.
The matter is set to be mentioned on January 28 to confirm whether investigations have been completed.
So far, investigations have shown that the basement of the Angle towers of Kenya Power’s High voltage power lines in Embakasi had been vandalized and the cross beams removed and unbolted, leading to the collapse that caused a major outage.
“Preliminary investigations and Interrogations of Kenya power personnel at the scene revealed that the basement of the Angle Towers of Kenya Power High voltage power lines had been vandalized and the cross beams removed/unbolted,” Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti said.
Two months ago, police arrested two people behind the vandalism of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line.
The two were accused of vandalising the SGR line in Mtito Andei, leading to a two-hour delay of a passenger train.
The National Police Service (NPS) said that they managed to recover railway line blocks that had been vandalized along the rail line.
