Defiant Wandayi says will not resign as fuel probe drags on

Almost two weeks have passed since Kenyans were left waiting for answers after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations staged an arrest spectacle that resembled a poorly scripted Bollywood action movie.

Four senior government officials were paraded before rolling television cameras and handcuffed as if they were convicted criminals. The nation watched in shock as President William Ruto’s close allies spent nights in police cells. But to date, no charge sheet has been filed.

The men, Principal Secretary Mohamed Liban, Epra Director General Daniel Kiptoo, KPC Managing Director Joe Sang and ministry official Joseph Wafula, were bundled into police vehicles. Their reputations were damaged on prime-time news and newspaper front pages. Today, they walk free but remain tainted.

The Standard reached out to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions on the status of the case. The DPP responded in a carefully worded letter stating: “To date, the Director of Public Prosecutions has yet to receive the inquiry file on the subject matter from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.”

There are no witness statements, no forensic reports, no analysis of the waiver documents and no financial records. There is no inquiry file at all. The DPP cannot decide on charges because there is nothing to review.

The DPP also told The Standard in response to questions that he cannot commit to timelines, but assured the public that action will be taken once the file is submitted. He added that any action will be taken without fear, favour or consideration of status.

While the Director of Criminal Investigations continues with what appears to be an incomplete probe, Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi questioned the resignation of the officials and insisted he would remain in office, saying he was fit to serve.

Appearing before the National Assembly Energy Committee, Wandayi said the men were not coerced into stepping down.

“As to why the three or so officers resigned, I cannot say because I do not know why they resigned. What I know is that investigations are going on and again resigning is a voluntary thing and you can have your reasons and you are free to state them or not... when all is said and done and in the final analysis, clearly there is no reason to stop me from discharging my duties as Cabinet Secretary for Energy,” Wandayi told the committee.

Committee chair David Gikaria said the resignation letters must contain reasons, which the committee wants to examine.

“The officers must have been appointed by someone; they sent those letters to the appointing people, maybe we could understand because in those letters they must have indicated to the respective appointing authority,” Gikaria said.

Wandayi said that since the government-to-government (G2G) framework was established through a Cabinet resolution and was governed by law, any deviation from it would require approval.

He added that procurement of the consignment was recommended by a technical committee. A stock brief was then prepared and forwarded to the PS, who approved it.

"When it emerged that the consignment had come outside G2G, we moved swiftly because such a deviation would have required higher authority. I briefed the President on March 30 and he advised me to take the necessary steps to ensure the one en route is stopped.

"The approval of the CS was not sought. I would have acted on it and forwarded it to the President and Cabinet. At this point, we did not know it was outside G2G," he said.

The CS told the committee that although the matter is under active investigation, the government has directed the importer to withdraw all invoices and issue credit notes to oil marketing companies (OMCs), which have also been instructed not to take up the consignment.

Wandayi added that the government has further directed that the consignment should be excluded from petroleum pump price computations.

“The public will not suffer any loss whatsoever from the importation of the consignment in question. If that consignment of petrol was to be factored into the computation of petroleum prices in this next cycle, that is today (Tuesday), it would have meant an increase of Sh14 per litre. But because I directed that it should not be factored into the costing of this petroleum price, the increase on that account will not be there,” he said.

Asked whether special permits, directives or exemptions were issued to facilitate the import, the CS said a brief on the supply position was presented to the PS for consideration and approval.

He added that despite the circumstances, there is sufficient stock in the country. He also said show cause letters have been issued to oil marketers accused of interfering with supply by creating artificial shortages.

He said petroleum prices have risen globally following disruptions, with ships reportedly stuck at the Strait of Hormuz.

Wandayi did not immediately respond to the actual price changes to be implemented today but urged Kenyans to be patient and wait for the announcement by Epra, which he said would reflect government action, insisting there is no fuel shortage.

As of Monday, petrol stocks stood at about 183,318 cubic metres, diesel at 152,760 cubic metres and jet fuel at 113,575 cubic metres, which he said was sufficient to last several days. The CS added that panic buying and hoarding by some oil companies had contributed to long queues at petrol stations.

“There should be no cause for alarm and anyone who would want to create an artificial shortage will face the law. What you are seeing now is panic buying. It is common sense that if you are a trader of oil and you know that Epra will announce higher prices, you will hoard and wait. This problem will end tomorrow because there will be no motivation to hoard.

“We cannot pre-empt the pump price review, but we have agreed that the cost of this consignment will not be factored in... but we are not just sitting pretty, we are taking measures," Wandayi stated.

KPC Acting Managing Director Pius Mwendwa said petrol stocks were sufficient to last another 14 days, adding that there was no cause for alarm over shortages. He also said a vessel carrying additional fuel was already at sea and would begin discharging supplies starting today.