NAIROBI, Kenya Apr 15 \u2013 Narok Senator Ledama Ole Kina has alleged the existence of a powerful \u201cfuel cabal\u201d within Kenya\u2019s energy sector, accusing senior officials and oil marketers of orchestrating inflated fuel import deals at the expense of taxpayers.<\/p>\n
In a statement shared on X, the Narok Senator claimed that documents presented before lawmakers point to coordinated pricing arrangements between Oryx Energies Kenya Ltd and officials at the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum.<\/p>\n
Ole Kina told senators he was \u201cshocked\u201d to discover what he described as glaring discrepancies in fuel import costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sat in the committee room\u2026 and discovered that they were all in agreement to import fuel at USD 253.94 per metric tonne, while the same government imports fuel at USD 84.00 per metric tonne,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He questioned the justification for the price difference, raising concerns over possible collusion between oil marketing companies and government officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf OMCs are not taking advantage in cohorts with ministry officials, who is fooling whom?\u201d he posed, terming the alleged scheme \u201can artificial get-rich-quick scam.\u201d<\/p>\n
The allegations come amid an ongoing Senate investigation into emergency fuel procurement deals undertaken during recent global supply disruptions linked to the Middle East crisis.<\/p>\n
Ole Kina further claimed that one of the disputed shipments had already arrived in the country before being abruptly cancelled, raising fresh concerns over procurement processes and fuel quality standards.<\/p>\n
Appearing before the Senate Standing Committee on Energy, Oryx Managing Director Angeline Maangi defended the company\u2019s actions, saying it responded to a direct government request under urgent market conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Company acted at the Government\u2019s request\u2026 to support Kenya\u2019s energy security,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
According to documents tabled before the committee, the State Department for Petroleum issued a direct request for proposal on March 19 for additional Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), citing fears of supply disruptions.<\/p>\n
Oryx submitted its bid within two hours and was subsequently approved to supply 96,000 metric tonnes of fuel.<\/p>\n
However, the government cancelled the deal on March 31 while shipments were already en route\u2014an action that has triggered sharp scrutiny from lawmakers.<\/p>\n
Maangi told the committee the cancellation occurred despite what she described as a binding contractual arrangement, adding that the company has since incurred losses of $25 million (approximately Sh3.2 billion).<\/p>\n
The unfolding controversy has intensified pressure on the government to explain the pricing structure, procurement process, and abrupt cancellation of the deal.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers have raised concerns over transparency, competitiveness, and the potential financial burden on taxpayers if compensation claims are upheld.<\/p>\n
The allegations of a fuel pricing cartel come at a time when Kenyans are already grappling with rising fuel costs and a high cost of living, further fueling public outrage over the management of the energy sector.<\/p>\n
As the Senate probe continues, attention is now firmly on whether the claims of collusion and price manipulation will be substantiated\u2014and whether those responsible will be held accountable.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya Apr 15 \u2013 Narok Senator Ledama Ole Kina has alleged the existence of a powerful \u201cfuel cabal\u201d within Kenya\u2019s energy sector, accusing senior officials and oil marketers of orchestrating inflated fuel import deals at the expense of taxpayers. In a statement shared on X, the Narok Senator claimed that documents presented before lawmakers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137778\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}