Two men were sentenced to 10 years in prison each, or pay a fine of Sh5 million apiece, after being found guilty of vandalising electricity equipment and unlawfully handling power infrastructure.
Ndhiwa Senior Principal Magistrate’s Court on Friday handed the sentences to David Ochieng Lang’o and Godwin Omondi Oduogi.
According to Kenya Power, Ochieng was arrested in July 2025 in a joint operation involving officers attached to the State body as well as the Migori Police Station.
He was found with 10 jerrycans of oil believed to have been siphoned from vandalised transformers.
Omondi, meanwhile, was arrested in April 2025 by Ndhiwa Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers after unlawfully disconnecting a customer.
Joint investigations by Kenya Power and the DCI also revealed that he was in possession of a transformer fuse.
The two denied the charges but were both convicted and sentenced.
The court noted that the spike in vandalism cases and resulting power outages in Ndhiwa sub-county has become a persistent concern for residents and businesses alike.
Kenya Power’s Security Services Manager Major Geoffrey Kigen welcomed the ruling, calling it a win for customers and enterprises that are often left literally and figuratively in the dark after such incidents.
“As Kenya Power, we thank the Judiciary and law enforcement agencies for their continued support in ensuring that justice is served in such cases,” he said.
“These convictions also highlight our continued appeal to the public: report any suspicious activities involving electricity installations. When vandalism occurs, it disrupts livelihoods and compromises the safety of our communities.”
Meanwhile, the High Court set a strict evidentiary threshold for ejecting elected leaders from office over party hopping, ruling that defection must be proven through a formal and lawful resignation from the sponsoring party as required under the Political Parties Act.
In a judgment delivered by a three-judge bench, the court dismissed a petition seeking the removal of Isiolo Governor Abdi Guyo and his deputy John Lowasa over claims that they had defected from the Jubilee Party to the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
The judges held that political migration, political alignment, or public association with another party does not amount to legal defection unless the strict resignation process under Sections 10 and 11 of the Political Parties Act is followed and proven in court.
The petition, filed by Guyo Ali, Mohammed Wario, Teddy Muturi and Steven Kihonge, was dismissed after the court found no evidence of valid resignation documents submitted to Jubilee or the Registrar of Political Parties.
While reaffirming the central role of political parties in Kenya’s multiparty system, the court drew a distinction between political loyalty and constitutional office, noting that governors hold executive authority on behalf of the people and not their political parties.
Even so, the bench cautioned that unregulated party hopping poses serious risks to democratic stability, warning that failure to follow the law in changing party allegiance raises ethical and integrity concerns that offend Article 10(2) of the Constitution.
The court further observed that although irregular defections undermine accountability and good governance under Articles 10 and 4(c), courts can only act where the legal threshold of proof is met.
In their response, Governor Guyo and his deputy maintained that they had never resigned from Jubilee, arguing that the petition was built on assumptions and political rhetoric rather than hard evidence.
The court ultimately dismissed the case, safeguarding the governor and his deputy’s tenure and reaffirming that constitutional removal from office cannot be anchored on speculation or political perception.
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