How disputed oil cargo threw KRA into a spin over Sh5.1b tax bill

A worker fills the tank of a vehicle at a petrol station in Nairobi. The Middle East war has exposed Kenyans to major fuel price shocks. [File, Standard]

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has for months been grappling with how to deal with the Sh5.1 billion in taxes that oil marketing companies had paid the taxman for the fuel cargo aboard the vessel MT Paloma, which was rejected and for which the owners were directed to remove the cargo from the Kenyan market.

The fuel, imported by One Petroleum under an emergency tender, was rejected after its discharge into Kenya Pipeline Company's (KPC) storage systems between March 28 and 30 this year, but the Energy and Petroleum Ministry directed its withdrawal after it failed to meet local standards but also been imported outside the Government-to-Government framework.