Census equipment were Thurday night stolen at Sioyi centre in West Pokot County.
The gadgets which include Tablets/no 155354 Imei/no 868758032217113, USB cable, adapter, power bank, badge, reflector jacket and a bag were stolen after thieves broke into a hardware and fled with them.
Confirming the incident the area county police Commander Jackson Tumwet said police officers visited the area and have not yet managed to arrest any culprits or recover the equipment.
He said criminal investigations officer had taken over the matter and were currently tracking the devices and assured that the culprits will be arrested.
“We are assuring residents of maximum security during this period of census. We are conducting night patrols to ensure that the county is safe and nobody is attacked during the exercise,” he added.
Contacted by KNA on his phone, Adrian Kemei the census content supervisor of Sioyi Ward said he left the gadgets at his hardware shop to charge over-night only to discover in the morning were stolen.
“The thieves took advantage of the heavy rains that was pounding over-night. They broke into our hardware stole the census equipment, a gas cylinder and some cash,” he said.
He pointed out that they did not hear the burglars break into the hardware due to heavy rains saying he was later awoken by screams of his neighbour where the thieves had also broken into another shop wanting to steal a television set.
“They were raiding the shopping centre but fortunately the neighbours heard them and raised alarm. They fled with the gadgets,” he said.
He added that he reported the incident at Kapenguria police station where police officers are haunting for the thieves.
It has also been confirmed that the statistics office replaced the stolen equipment for the exercise begin on Saturday evening as expected.
By John Saina