Two middle-aged men have been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment each or a fine of Sh10 million after a Kabarnet court found them guilty of vandalising and stealing telecommunication equipment worth more than Sh1.15 million at Chemolingot Hill in Tiaty, Baringo County.
Enock Kabiswa Chongwa and Elijah Ouma Odhiambo were convicted by Senior Principal Magistrate Purity Koskey after being charged with two counts of tampering with telecommunication infrastructure contrary to Section 32(c) of the Kenya Information and Communications Act, Cap 411A.
In the first count, the court heard that on the night of September 26–27, 2025, at Chemolingot Hill in Tiaty Central Sub-County, the two, jointly with others not before the court, unlawfully vandalised and removed telecommunication cables and equipment belonging to Safaricom PLC.
The stolen items included 45 metres of yellow-green cable, copper tape, RRU cable, 16mm double-core power cable, and ODU cable from Safaricom site ID 14986-RV-LWU 21096 Chemolingot OUTR-RMT-HUB-MGF, valued at Sh646,787.52.
In the second count, the court was told that on the night of October 1–2, 2025, the accused persons again vandalised and removed equipment from ATC Site 621500 Chemolingot Hill. The items included 228 metres of 16mm 2-core Flex cable, 20 cable lugs, and 10 PF cable ties valued at Sh511,142.55.
The prosecution called nine witnesses in support of the case. Among them was Eddy Smith, a technician working with Airtel in Chemolingot, who testified that he received reports of network failure on October 2, 2025, at around 12:45 a.m. Due to insecurity, he did not visit the site that night but proceeded there the following morning, where he found power transmission cables had been cut and the site was offline.
Smith told the court that while heading to the site, he encountered two individuals later identified as the accused persons. He said he became suspicious after seeing them walking along the tarmac road and followed them on a motorcycle. He later observed them boarding a Probox vehicle, which he trailed to Chemolingot Centre where they were dropped at a hotel.
He further testified that the shoes worn by the suspects had tread patterns similar to footprints found at the vandalised site. He reported the matter to Chemolingot Police Station, after which officers accompanied him to the hotel and arrested the suspects. During the arrest, pliers were allegedly recovered from Odhiambo’s jacket.
Smith added that a search was later conducted and stolen cables were recovered about 100 metres from the scene, where they had been buried. He identified the recovered items in court.
Another witness, Robinson Kiptoo Korkon, a transporter along the Marigat–Chemolingot route, told the court that on September 26, 2025, he transported the two accused persons from Marigat stage to Chemolingot after Odhiambo paid him Sh700. He added that the following morning the two men contacted him again requesting transport, but he handed them over to another vehicle after noticing they were carrying heavy bags.
Elizabeth Muhia, a Regional Safaricom security officer, testified that on September 27, 2025, she received a report from the Eldoret control room that the Chemolingot site had been vandalised and cables stolen. She noted that the site alarm had failed due to a technical fault. She further stated that the site was restored and resumed operations on September 28, with losses assessed at Sh648,787.
In her ruling, Magistrate Koskey said the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt through circumstantial evidence.
“I have considered the sequence of events and the circumstantial evidence led, and I arrive at an irresistible conclusion that it was the accused persons who were involved in tampering with the telecommunication equipment at both sites,” she ruled.
The court convicted the two under Section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code and sentenced each to a fine of Sh10 million or 10 years’ imprisonment in default. The accused were granted 14 days’ right of appeal.
by Naomi Kipsang and Joshua Kibet
