Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi has stepped in to stop payments linked to the controversial fuel import, ordering that the shipment be withdrawn as investigations begin.
In a statement on Tuesday, the petroleum in question, amounting to some 60,000 metric tons of super petrol, had entered the country through channels other than those set out in the government-to-government arrangement.
The official pointed out that the fuel was considerably more costly than the usual importation from Kenya. Whereas fuel imported using the official channel is sold for about Ksh140,000 per metric tonne, this consignment was going for roughly Ksh198,000.
“If this cost was passed on, Kenyans would have felt it at the pump,” Wandayi said, warning that such moves could undo efforts to keep fuel prices stable.
To avoid that, he directed the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) not to include the shipment when calculating fuel prices for the next review.
He also ordered that all payments related to the consignment be stopped immediately.
The company that imported the fuel, One Petroleum Ltd, has been asked to withdraw its invoices and issue credit notes instead. Oil marketers have also been warned not to buy or distribute the fuel in question.
According to Wandayi, the process of bypassing the established process of importing fuel is extremely risky for the whole supply chain and might lead to inflation and uncertainty in the marketplace.
Moreover, Wandayi pointed out that the government would be on high alert not to allow any company benefit from the situation by manipulating and raising prices through causing artificial shortages.
The problem comes amid worries that prices of the fuel might increase in the coming few days as experts have forecast that the prices might increase in the coming review period.
At the moment, the government says that the protection of the consumer and the stability of the fuel market are the main priorities.
