SGR saboteurs risk capital offence charge, Tobiko warns
Detectives assess damage to a section of the standard gauge railway (SGR) which was vandalised at Kibanda Hasara, Kwale county on May 27, 2017. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NMG
DPP says saboteurs will not be treated as petty thieves but as organised criminals.
The Police are holding four people believed to have been behind an incident where parts of a guardrail were severed in Mariakani.
The government has warned the public that anyone destroying the newly built Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is sabotaging the national economy and risks being charged with a capital offence.
The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Keriako Tobiko, said Tuesday that those found with vandalised SGR parts will be prosecuted as organised criminals and economic saboteurs.
“These acts are not only criminal but also constitute economic sabotage. The police and other enforcement agencies are working together with a team of prosecutors on the investigations to identify and apprehend all the members of the cartel involved,” he said in a statement.
Mr Tobiko revealed that the police are holding four people believed to have been behind this week’s incident where parts of a guardrail were severed in Mariakani area, Mombasa County.
The DPP warned that anyone found to have been involved with the incident will be arraigned before court to face severe charges adding that “where evidence warrants, they will be charged with appropriate capital offences.”
The mega infrastructure, which was constructed by Chinese State-owned China Road and bridge Construction (CRBC), is set to be commissioned on May 31 with President Uhuru Kenyatta taking the inaugural ride from Mombasa to Nairobi.
Kenya paid 10 per cent of the cost while China’s Exim bank settled the remaining Sh327 billion for the project that saw 30,000 Kenyans and 2,000 Chinese railway engineers and technicians directly involved in its construction.
