The fuel exposé that Raila Odinga released has been watered down by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, who claims that it is propaganda from the opposition.
He went on to say that the opposition was using the dossier as a tool to broaden its base of support ahead of the next general election.
Ichung’wah exposed weaknesses in Raila’s dossier on Thursday, pointing out that the administration of President William Ruto was allegedly hiding the government-to-government agreement as a state project in order to assist Kenyan companies, Gulf Energy, Galana Oil Kenya Ltd., and Oryx Energies Kenya Limited, from paying taxes.
The Member of Parliament emphasized that the three businesses were chosen through an open tender process because they supplied 80% of the nation’s oil imports.
He added that the companies Saudi State Corporations chose to distribute fuel locally did not hold any interest for the Kenya Kwanza administration.
“For the benefit of Raila and his ilk, the three companies (Gulf Energy, Galana Oil Kenya Ltd and Oryx Energies Kenya Ltd) are not agents of the Kenya government and are doing logistics on behalf of (Aramco and ADNOC) the two-state corporations in Saudi and United Arab Emirates,” he said.
“Who those companies choose as their Kenyan partners is not a matter for the Kenyan government to decide. The three businesses were responsible for 80% of the nation’s oil imports even under the Open Tender system, which supported their selection as the local logistics provider.”
Concerns regarding a potential diplomatic spat between Kenya and Uganda over unfulfilled trade agreements were also addressed by Ichung’wah. Recently, Uganda passed a law prohibiting Kenyan businesses from importing oil on the country’s behalf.
The majority leader of the National Assembly emphasized that since Uganda independently sources its goods and only ships them through Kenya’s pipeline, the government-to-government oil agreement has no bearing on the country’s oil imports.
“In this case, he must desist from dragging Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni’s name in his shadowboxing against the Kenya Kwanza administration,” he stated.
“The assertion that the landing cost of oil products in our neighboring nations of Tanzania and Uganda is cheaper than Kenya is another flat lie and Odinga knows it.”
On the other hand, he suggested that the high cost of living was a result of the handshake regime and that the Kenya Kwanza administration was clearing up the mess.