It was a dramatic Tuesday morning at the Milimani Courts during bail application hearing for Kenya Power bosses after a power blackout forced the judge to adjourn the court for some time.

The 17 senior Kenya Power Managers are facing corruption charges linked to the procurement of faulty transformers, a deal that reportedly cost taxpayers a total of Ksh.310,129,743.

Three directors of the company that supplied the faulty transformers are also part of those arrested.

The suspects were on Monday charged with a total of seven counts including conspiracy to commit an economic crime, abuse of office, failure to comply with procurement laws and conspiracy to defeat justice.

The investigations are expected to probe other tenders issued by the company.

KENYA POWER MANAGERS ARRESTED

Former Kenya Power Company Chief Executive Officer Ben Chumo, the current MD Ken Tarus, and General Managers Joshua Mutua, Samuel Ndirangu, Abubakar Swaleh, Stanely Mutwiri and Benson Muriithi are among those arrested.

Last week Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji ordered the arrest of Kenya power managers over fraudulent tenders.

“Most of the companies used fake documents to apply for the tenders and 39 of the companies given the work were not registered at the time of application and pre-qualification,” said Haji.