EPRA on spot after Ruto deal with Saudi Arabia fails to lower fuel prices
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EPRA unable to explain how Ruto deal with Saudi Arabia on oil importation will lower fuel prices
EPRA unable to explain how Ruto deal with Saudi Arabia on oil importation will lower fuel prices.
On Tuesday, June 6, representatives from the Energy and Petroleum Regulation Authority (EPRA) were unable to clarify how the fuel agreement that President William Ruto signed with Saudi Arabia will help the country.
When questioned about the benefits of the government’s choice to buy oil without using dollars, the authority, who was testifying before the National Assembly’s Public Investments Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy (PICCAE), struggled to answer.
The officials were criticized by the committee’s chair, David Pkosing (MP for Pokot South), for the prices continuing to rise despite the early April agreement.
“What was the purpose of the government-to-government (G to G) program? The dollar is affecting our fuel prices and EPRA isn’t answering to Kenyans,” posed Pkosing.
He argued that the deal was aimed at cushioning Kenyans and mitigating fuel price fluctuations but it resulted in an increase in prices.
“Representatives of EPRA appearing before the Committee expressed their inability to adequately address the inquiries regarding the matter,” the committee concluded at the end of the sitting.
Notably, Ruto selected three foreign firms to supply fuel to Kenya, Amarco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation Global Trading (ADNOC), and National Oil Company (NOC).
“As a country, we can buy fuel using local currency and from this month of April, all our fuel marketers will be able to use the shilling to buy our fuel products,” Ruto declared.
On April 27, Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir indicated that Kenyans could not take advantage of imported oil under the G to G agreement due to the market’s current supply of petroleum.
Chirchir announced that the oil would be available before EPRA made the monthly review.
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However, on May 14, the authorities raised the rates of Super Petrol, Diesel, and Kerosene by Kshs3.40, Kshs6.40, and Kshs15.19 per litre, respectively, raising the costs to Ksh182.70, Ksh168.40, and Ksh161.13.
Meanwhile, during the committee meeting, the members discussed a petition filed against the appointment of Daniel Kiptoo as EPRA Director General.
According to the petitioner, Kiptoo was unfit to hold the position accusing him of participating in the appointment.
Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi pinpointed the board’s failure to consider internal management candidates for the position, raising doubts about the leadership’s competence.
“He sat on the same board that was deliberating and making decisions about a process he previously knew he would take part in. Astoundingly, the board and the respondent did not make a full disclosure of the matter raising an undisclosed issue of conflict of interest,” read part of the petitioner’s affidavit.
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