Opposition Leader Raila Odinga has claimed that State Officials are part of the middlemen in oil deals that forced Uganda to exit the Kenyan market.
Speaking while addressing the media following the oil saga pitting businesswoman Anne Njeri Njoroge, Raila said middlemen have inflated prices of petroleum products by up to 59 per cent.
"Uganda announced they will no longer purchase petroleum products because middlemen have inflated prices. The middlemen President Museveni is talking about are Kenyan government officials," he said.
Further, Raila said the Kenya Kwanza government must make public the Memorandum of Understanding between Kenya, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE on the oil deal, as well as the Supplier Purchase Agreement it signed with the oil companies.
"The Ministry of Energy must make public the deals it has signed with oil companies. The EACC and DCI must investigate the tax compliance status of the three oil companies," he said.
The opposition leader additionally said President William Ruto must restore fuel taxes to 8 per cent from 16 per cent that came with the Finance Act 2023.
"The Government-to-Government oil deal President Ruto signed is going to kill the Kenya pipeline company. KPC is set to lose business to Tanzania, and Uganda’s shift will influence Rwanda, South Sudan, and the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo."
Museveni had on November 5 announced the cancellation of purchase from Kenya, noting that Uganda had been importing petroleum products of the magnitude of 2.5 billion litres per annum valued at about US$ 2bn.
"Without my knowledge, our wonderful People were buying this huge quantity of petroleum products from middlemen in Kenya. A whole country buying from middlemen in Kenya or anywhere else!! Amazing but true," he said.
He questioned why the petroleum products were not bought from the Refineries abroad and transported through Kenya and Tanzania, which he believed would cut out the cost created by middlemen.
"Those involved were not bothered by these issues. The internal parasites who have been cheating their country, have launched a social–media and mainstream media campaign against our liberation- resistance plan against okuseerwa (being over-charged)."
