Sh17bn fuel saga: Ann Njeri fails to appear before MPs
Businesswoman Ann Njeri Njoroge at the Mombasa Law Courts on November 14, 2023.
Ms Ann Njeri, the woman at the centre of the Sh17 billion fuel importation saga, has failed to appear before the National Assembly's Energy Committee for questioning.
She was expected to respond to various queries and provide details on the ownership and country of origin of the fuel, which has put the government and the opposition at loggerheads.
Ms Njeri wrote to the committee through Diro advocates to inform MPs that she would not make it for the session as she is indisposed and immobile.
“It is with humble regret that our client Ms Ann Njeri Njoroge (Ann’s Import and Exports Enterprises) will not be able to make it for the invitation to meet the departmental committee on Energy regarding the disputed oil consignment as she is indisposed and immobile,” reads the letter.
“She will, however, be available at a later date convenient with the committee. Our instructions are to implore you to indulge her for the scheduled meeting of November 22, 2023, and further excuse her presence,” reads the letter.
Ms Njeri was expected to apprise the committee of the ownership details of the consignment, the county of origin and the intended destination of the consignment among other issues.
Specific hospital
However, MPs pointed out that Ms Njeri must appear before them at the earliest opportunity possible to shed light on the Sh17 billion fuel saga.
The committee chairman Vincent Musyoka said: “We will not crucify anyone without giving them a fair hearing. Ms Njeri needs to know that she cannot make allegations of such magnitude then fail to appear before the committee.”
Mr Musyoka said the committee will demand details on the specific hospital where she is admitted to and the supporting documents.
“For now, we cannot be able to tell why she is immobile or indisposed or what exactly happened. But she must know that when we have matters of national interest, then she must be compelled to appear, we owe it to Kenyans who want to know the truth about this matter,” Mr Musyoka said.
Awendo MP Walter Owino said, “She is the main witness here, without her, there is no need to summon other witnesses.”
Ms Njeri has been in the limelight over the deal of the 100,000 metric tonnes of fuel valued at Sh17 billion which government officials claim belongs to Galana Energies Limited.
The standoff has brought forth the government-to-government fuel deal that Kenya struck with three Gulf-based companies amid questions as to who is behind the consignment that one of the parties claims is short-circuiting this agreement.
The opposition led by Raila Odinga has since called for the resignation of National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u and his Energy counterpart over their involvement in the deal.
Mr Odinga termed the deal as a scandal being enabled by cartels who are both in government and outside the government and are well known in the executive circles.
Import permit
While Ms Njeri has claimed that she possesses all the documents and licenses issued to her to import the oil, the government through the Ministry of Energy has dismissed her assertions.
“I applied to EPRA [for a licence], paid and I’ve been waiting to get the import permit which I didn’t know was necessary. As I was waiting, I went to see CS [Davis] Chirchir, who told me the oil [consignment] was no longer mine, it belonged to a company called Galana, in which I said I had not sold it cargo to anyone, there was no way it belongs to another,” Ms Njeri said last week.
Mr Chirchir said the claim that a petroleum import licence had been issued, paid for and was awaiting signature was a fabrication.
According to Mr Chirchir, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) does not charge fees for petroleum licences, nor does it have any petroleum import licence issued to Anns Import and Export Enterprises Limited.
Mr Chirchir, through a press release last week, said Ms Njeri’s company is not licensed to import petroleum into Kenya as required under Section 74 (1) (a) of the Petroleum Act 2019 and cannot therefore claim to have imported a diesel cargo into the country onboard MT Haigui.
