Nowhere to hide as OMTATAH blows open the ‘fake’ oil deal that RUTO signed with Saudi Arabia – Look! This guy is playing with fire.

 Sunday, October 8, 2023 – Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has poked holes in the government-to-government deal President William Ruto’s administration entered with Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates (UAE) companies.

In a letter addressed to Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u and his Energy counterpart Davis Chirchir, Omtatah argued that the deal was opaque and shrouded in mystery.

He further blamed the two CSs for failing to shed light on the contents of the deal which he described as a matter of national importance and great public interest.

“I am aware that, prior to these so-called agreements on the importation of petroleum products under the Government-to-Government arrangement, multinational oil marketers operating in Kenya would compete in an Open Tender System operated by EPRA whereby the tender winner would import petroleum products for all the oil marketers,” he argued.

“The Open Tender System was transparent with few complaints and it allowed Kenyan consumers to benefit from the dividends of free, fair and open competition. Prices of petroleum products were fixed on the open market and were reasonably stable. But now, with these opaque agreements, under the government-to-government arrangement, the prices have gone through the roof.”

As a result, the Senator demanded to know why the average landed cost at Kilindini in US dollars per barrel was US$60 (Ksh8,696) under the Open Tender System in the six months immediately preceding importation under the government-to-government arrangement, but shot up to US$120 (Ksh17,392) in the new deal.

He also questioned how the state, under the deal, ensured that it contracted for the products in a fair, equitable, transparent, competitive, and cost-effective manner in line with the Constitution.

Lastly, the activist wonders who benefited from the very high inflation of the landed cost at Kilindini in US dollars per barrel.

“Kindly, note that failure to supply the information as requested will necessitate recourse to the Constitutional Court, at your risk as to costs, for orders regarding access to the requested information,” he added.