A court in Mombasa on Wednesday, November 16, handed a two-year jail term to a man who stole a Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) metallic pole.
The man identified as Ali Badi Chumvi alias Swaleh Hussein was found guilty of stealing the metal that was worth Ksh30,000.
Handing the sentence, Justice Martha Mutuku noted that Badi did not appear remorseful for his actions hence the harsh sentence.
Front entrance of Mombasa Law Courts
Daily Nation Justice Martha Mutuku added that vandalizing SGR property is a threat to safety of many people considering that thousands depend on the railway line for transport everyday.
The unremorseful Badi pleaded guilty and told the judge that he has also vandalized SGR property in the past.
In the first instance, Badi was found guilty and sentenced to prison only to repeat the same crime after serving his sentence.
Badi was accused alongside Boniface Ngonda who pleaded not guilty and was released on Ksh200,000 bond with one surety with an alternative Ksh100,000 cash bail. His case will be mentioned on November 29 for pretrial.
Vandalizing SGR metals and other key infrastructure is a serious issue alongside Mombasa-Nairobi railway line.
On August 16, four people were charged for vandalism of a security wall of the Standard Gauge Railway in Mtito Andei, Makueni county.
At the time of arrest, the four were found with 62 metal rods, a binding wire and other materials they had vandalized from the wall.
In 2020, SGR had to momentarily pause its operations after critical blocks on the line were vandalized.
“Kenya Railways (KR) has fallen victim to vandalism activities where thieves have removed some metallic pipes installed at the SGR bridge that crosses Magadi Road,” KR managing director Philip Mainga reported then.
Standard Gauge Railway passing through Nairobi National Park and lions watching from a distance
File steal thieves arrest
