The ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Party has launched a scathing attack against former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, accusing the duo of politicising the fuel scandal.
In a press briefing on Monday, April 6, UDA Secretary-General Hassan Omar Hassan said Gachagua, Ndindi and other opposition politicians had “callously and irresponsibly” exploited the fuel scandal that has seen three senior energy officials resign after they were arrested among others on allegations of purchasing an emergency fuel shipment at inflated prices, capitalising on the fuel crisis occasioned by the war in Iran.
According to Omar, Kenya — like many other countries across the world — is confronting the inevitable economic crisis brough by the war in Iran, key among them being the risks it has brought to the stability, reliability and security of the fuel supply chain.
“Instead of approaching this matter with the sobriety, patriotism, and unity it demands, certain political opportunists have chosen to exploit this grave situation, scavenging for political mileage and advancing narrow, myopic, and parochial interests at the expense of the national good,” Omar said in the press briefing held in Mombasa. “We urge the two shallow-well talkers who have styled themselves as echo chamber enthusiasts to desist from acting at the behest of their Mombasa-based benefactor.”
The party insisted that Gachagua’s and Nyoro’s commentary on the issue lacks intellectual depth and policy understanding of the fuel ecosystem in the country, and therefore misleading Kenyans and evoking emotions.
Following the arrest of five senior energy officials in the alleged scandal, three of them opted to resign. They include; Joe Sang, the Managing Director of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC); Daniel Kiptoo Bargoria, Director General of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority; and Mohamed Liban, Principal Secretary for Petroleum.
The suspects are accused of orchestrating a scheme that would see Kenyans lose KSh3 billion by procuring substandard petroleum products under the false pretext of an impending fuel shortage.
“Wamunyoro [Gachagua] and Ndindi Nyoro, rather than condemning such characters and applauding their resignations because they are indeed not victims but villains, instead, have sided with individuals who had engineered artificial supply constraints by restricting the discharge of petroleum products to oil marketing companies, all while the unsuspecting public bore the brunt and misdirected their frustration toward innocent market players,” Omar added.
The party commended the government and security agencies for swiftly busting the criminal enterprise, leading to their arrest.
“We also strongly condemn the reckless, unfounded and thoughtless utterances by Wamunyoro. Whereas politics may be contested across many fronts, Wamunyoro ought to be reminded and indeed schooled that matters touching on national economic security demand restraint, maturity, and statesmanship from leaders across all political persuasions.”
The five officials spend the weekend in police cells as government said in a statement that the manipulation of fuel stock data was intended to justify an emergency import of fuel even though Kenya has several standing Government-to-Government (G-to-G) contracts.
The war in Iran has led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway that serves as the primary gateway for oil and gas exports from the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world. Despite this anomaly, government said that Saudi Aramco Trading Fujairah, Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC Global Trading Ltd, and Emirates National Oil Company Singapore Ltd were all meeting their contractual obligations.
The procurement of an overpriced, substandard quality emergency shipment of fuel, the government said, “appears to have been done to exploit rising global prices and public anxiety, thereby creating a false impression of impending supply shortfall.”
