War is always inevitable in competitive environment but it gets more fierce when powerful forces are involved.
Fiscal impropriety of huge proportions are, meanwhile crippling KPC with massive financial losses and debts linked to tendering, oil spillage and opaque dealings, among other vices. Ngumi has been categorical that the agency under Sang has underperformed, hence the losses and debts.
KPC managing director Joe Sang and Board chairman John Ngumi appear to be on different orbits and appear to have nothing but disdain for each other. They have been trying to sway the board to their side and using every opportunity to tar each other.
Sources within the corporation talking on condition of anonymity offered that the bone of contention has to do with award of tenders worth billions and whose interest have been best and most profitably served.
It’s telling that when he appeared before the Senate Energy Committee, Ngumi said the board was in the dark in all the multi-billion-shilling tenders currently being investigated.
National Assembly Committee on Energy chairman David Gikaria told People Daily his team was divided over sending the MD packing to ease the tension, with some members saying that, in it self, will not resolve the infighting.
A board meeting called by Ngumi last week to discuss Sang aborted after it failed to raise quorum. Only Petroleum Principal Secretary Andrew Kamau, Winnie Mukami and Rita Okuthe who are reportedly on the side of the chairman showed up.
Those identifying with the MD namely Hudson Andambi, Maj (Rtd) Iltasayon Neepe, Erick Korir, Jinaro Kibet, Wahome Gitonga and Felicity Biriri did not turn up, prompting the chairman to call off the meeting. Six directors make the quorum.
It is understood that Deputy President William Ruto had, a day before the scheduled board meeting, invited the two for a meeting to iron out their differences and asked the board to allow Sang to complete his term which ends in March.
But in an apparent defiance of the DPs truce call, Ngumi has convened yet another meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) with the sole agenda to discuss the MD, raising questions as its value and if it will stoke more heat or finally throw some light into the Pipeline saga.
The Public Investment Committee chairman Abdulswamad Nassir said the committee had opened a probe into the corruption and tendering issues and that both the board and the management would be summoned to appear.
Investigators, meanwhile, have opened a probe into what some sources say could be the country’s biggest corruption scandal at KPC, allegedly involving Sh70 billion.
The investigation is centered on claims of hugely inflated costs for procurement deals undertaken by the firm in recent past.
Past and present officials of the firm have reportedly been lined up for questioning starting this week in the renewed fight against grand corruption.
Do you think heat between the two will be brought down even as quest for justice and prosecution goes on?