03/10/2026
KONDEBOTIHUN BLACKOUT AGAIN: STRATEGIC THIEVES, COLLECTIVE FAILURE — HOW DO WE PROTECT OUR TRANSFORMERS IN MOYAMBA?
_powered by_
_George Gbenga_
_activist, Social and development commentator_
For the umpteenth time, Kondebotihun Community in Salina has been thrown into darkness following another suspected transformer cable theft. This is no longer a random act. This is a strategic, calculated and wicked pattern. Kondebotihun is key to Moyamba's power distribution, and the community has contributed heavily in cash, labour and time on several occasions to restore power, only for heartless thieves to strike again and create more havoc. Their aim is clear — to frustrate development, cripple businesses, and punish a community for being resilient.
Enough is enough. The time for blame games is over. Curbing this menace requires collective responsibility and a clear mitigation strategy. *Community Responsibility:* Every youth, every elder, every bike rider in Kondebotihun and Salina must become a watchman. Set up a Community Electricity Watch Team with night patrols and a direct hotline to report suspicious movements around transformers. *EDSA & EGTC:* You must move from replacement to protection — install anti-theft cables, heighten transformers, weld lock the enclosures, and install alarm-trigger lights. *Police, ONS & Local Authorities:* Treat this as economic sabotage, not petty theft. The Police must investigate the scrap market and the buyers, ONS must provide intelligence support, while Traditional Chiefs and Local Council must enact and enforce strong community bylaws with severe fines and public shaming for culprits and collaborators.
Finally, *Civil Society and the Moyamba District Youth Leadership* must lead a district-wide sensitization campaign: "Our Transformer, Our Life, Our Responsibility." Let the youth leadership take charge of protecting these facilities, let civil society monitor EDSA's response time and hold authorities accountable. Kondebotihun has sacrificed too much to be left in darkness by criminals. If we do not protect what we contributed to build, no one else will.