NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 20 – Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Leader Raila Odinga has hit out at President William Ruto saying no contractual agreement on the Government to Government oil deal has been made public.
Odinga asked the Head of State to stop playing a fictitious game stating that the contract Kenya Kwanza Alliance is claiming to be public is a binding agreement between the government and Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
He insisted documents signed by a representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Kenya must be availed.
“G-to-G deal must be government to government. The documents that are said to be public are signed between the government through CS Chirchir and the oil companies and not any of the Saudi Arabian countries,” he said.
President William Ruto had dared Azimio La Umoja leader Raila Odinga to prove that the Government-to-Government oil deal was a scam instead of spreading unfounded allegations.
The Opposition Leader questioned why the government opted to enter into a contractual agreement with gulf companies instead of signing the agreement with the National Oil Company, a government parastatal.
He added that leading oil marketing companies like Vivo Energy, Shell Energies and Total Energies are facing hurdles because of middlemen who have become cartels inflating the cost of petroleum products.
“NOC has mandate to participate in all aspects of the petroleum industry.How does Chirchir explain the exclusion of this corporation in favour of private, shady firms?”Odinga posed.
On 10 March 2023, government through the ministry of Energy entered into master framework agreements with Aramco Trading Fujairah FZE, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Global Trading Ltd and Emirates National Oil Company (Singapore) Private Ltd, and this marked the beginning of the supply of petroleum products under a G-to-G arrangement.
In the G-to-G deal, the three Gulf State-owned firms Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi Oil Company (ADNOC), and Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc) were given leeway to handpick local oil marketing companies that would distribute fuel on their behalf.
The Head of State has reiterated that the G-to-G deal was above board saying the support received from the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) has proved the deal was legitimate.
President Ruto told Odinga to shun skirting around the issue by seeking the contractual agreement entered between the OMCs and the government saying the documents are available in the public domain.
“Stop saying you want the contracts, the contracts are public domain, there is no secret contract anywhere. MPs from both the government and opposition are in Parliament, they can go look at the contracts and interrogate,” President Ruto said.
“They will know we are running an administration that is above board and that looks for the best interests of the republic of Kenya,” he added.
Odinga had demanded the cancellation of the government-to-government deal claiming it’s a scam that has created a breeding ground for corruption in the country.
In his dossier on the government-to-government deal on oil importation which was entered in March this year, Odinga said other than keeping the cost of oil permanently high in Kenya, the deal was costing the country trade in petroleum with neighboring landlocked countries.
President William Ruto’s government opted for government-to-government oil supply contracts in March this year after the shilling tumbled to record lows.
The government ditched the Open Tender System (OTS) that has been in use for importing fuel for nearly a decade in favor of direct procurement under a government-to-government deal with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Odinga is pushing for the country to revert to the Open Tender System which he says ensures a guaranteed supply of petroleum product saying the G to G business model is hurting the consumers through exorbitant prices passed on the consumers.
