Kenya Power Officer Nabbed Over Sh20,000 Bribery Demand in Vihiga

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has moved against a Kenya Power employee based in Vihiga County, arresting him on allegations that he solicited and collected a Sh20,000 bribe from a local faith-based organisation. The suspect, Kennedy Wambani Oduor, is attached to the Kenya Power Mbale-Vihiga office and now faces charges under the Anti-Bribery Act, 2016.

The case has its roots in a safety complaint that went unanswered for years. God's Vision for Africa, a community organisation in Vihiga, raised the alarm about a damaged and deteriorating electricity pole close to its premises as far back as October 2022. Despite repeated follow-ups, Kenya Power took no action, leaving the organisation exposed to serious risks of electrocution and fire.

Tired of waiting and unwilling to gamble with the safety of people on their premises, the organisation took matters into their own hands and brought in a private contractor to pull down the defective pole and install a new one at its own cost. It was this decision — fixing a hazard that a public utility had ignored — that allegedly triggered Oduor's ire.

Rather than acknowledging the organisation's reasonable response to a neglected danger, Oduor allegedly threatened to disconnect God's Vision for Africa from the electricity grid entirely unless they paid him. Investigators say he demanded Sh20,000 in what amounts to a shakedown of a community organisation that had already been let down by the very utility he works for.

The matter was reported to the EACC, which launched an investigation and mounted an operation that ended with Oduor being caught allegedly in the act of receiving the bribe money. The Director of Public Prosecutions reviewed the evidence and approved the filing of bribery charges, clearing the way for prosecution.

Oduor was processed at Kisumu Central Police Station and appeared before the Kisumu Anti-Corruption Court on May 7, 2026. The magistrate released him on a cash bail of Sh200,000 with an equal surety as his case proceeds to trial.

The arrest shines a harsh light on the low-level corruption that continues to burden Kenyans dealing with public utilities. Kenya Power has long drawn criticism over its sluggish response to infrastructure faults, and this case illustrates how that bureaucratic failure can create space for individual officials to extort the very citizens the utility is mandated to serve. The EACC's intervention signals that such conduct will not go unchallenged.