After a shocking revelation that Kenyans have unwittingly been paying billions of shillings to cover up for theft of fuel at Kenya Pipeline Company in a scam that could have run for years, the Kenya Pipeline Managing Director Joe Sang has quit his position as the board.
The Company has however invited crime busters from the DCI to investigate disappearance of more than 21 million litres of fuel, which KPC claimed to have either spilt or was stolen by vandals.
Mr Sang, whose first term was to end in April next year handed his letter to the board on Tuesday morning which later stated hat Mr Sang will not be renewing his contract at the company.
In the letter, Mr Sang said that “due to personal reasons”, he would not be seeking extension of his term, which effectively ends his troubled tenure at KPC.
In a press statement signed by KPC chairman, Mr John Ngumi, the board on Tuesday also invited oil marketing companies (OMCs) to conduct forensic audit of stock positions and to complete the exercise by December 31.
“The board directed management to accord maximum cooperation to both the DCI and the forensic auditors,” Mr Ngumi said.
This followed a row between KPC and major oil companies over the whereabouts of 21 million litres of fuel, worth over Sh2 billion, which the company claims spilt in the fields – or was stolen in the last two years.
The 10 leading oil marketers had written a joint letter dated October 26, 2018 in which they demanded to conduct their own forensic audit to check the accuracy of stock statements issued by KPC and get to the bottom of what was turning to be bogus records of loss.
KPC has no fuel of its own and holds stock in its system on behalf of the oil marketers and now cannot account for the missing product.
It all started on July 5, 2018, when Mr Sang wrote a letter to Supplycor Kenya Limited, the independent legal entity incorporated by the oil marketing companies in Kenya to coordinate activities along the fuel supply chain, notifying them that in the last two years, a total of 11.646 million litres of fuel got lost due to “vandalism and spillages of the main line from Mombasa to Nairobi”.
The amount included 4.4 million litres, which KPC claims was siphoned in Koru, Kisumu.
In his letter, Mr Sang said that “these spillages are covered by CIC Company Insurance under the Industrial All Risks policy…the company expects the above losses to be compensated by insurance to the fullest extent possible and any balances not remedied shall be recovered from the industry.”