Residents of two areas in Kenyan capital Nairobi have been in the dark after a prepaid electricity cable was vandalised over the Easter weekend.
The cut, which hit Kenya Power customers in the Westlands Estate and Ngara Area, not only affected households and businesses, but also hit data and communication connections hosted by Safaricom, Kenya’s biggest telecommunications company.
Kenya Power's call centre runs on the Jamii Telecom system, which uses a Safaricom hosted client.
Migwi Theuri, Kenya Power’s communication manager, has said that fibre lines were cut in Westlands on Friday and at Museum Hill roundabout on Saturday.
He added that the cut cables at the Museum Hill roundabout interfered with the transmission of data and communications to Kenya Power's Stima Plaza. Moreover, the cut also downed emergency call services from its call centers.
Meanwhile, Kenya Power says it has repaired the fault. The organisation, though, has not disclosed as to how many of its customers were affected by the cut.
In 2012 Kenya Power launched its prepaid meters with an aim to provide 520,000 prepaid meters by mid-2013 at a cost of Sh5.8 billion.
Cable thieves who steal copper cable have wreaked havoc in Kenya, as demand for the material soars in resource hungry nations such as China and India.
Last year, the likes of Telkom Kenya said that cable vandalism is costing the company approximately $23 million annually.
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