Plea deal forces energy bosses to resign amid fuel scandal probe

EPRA boss Daniel Kiptoo, KPC MD Joe Sang and Energy PS Liban Mohamed who who were arrested over the alleged importation of substandard fuel. [File, Standard] It is now emerging that the resignation of three top officials was part of plea bargain as the government fights off the substandard fuel scandal. In a statement issued by the Executive Office of the President on Saturday, Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei confirmed that the government had received the resignations of key officeholders linked to the unfolding probe. Those who stepped down include Principal Secretary for Petroleum Mohamed Liban, Joe Sang, Managing Director of the Kenya Pipeline Company, and Daniel Kiptoo Bargoria, Director General of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority. "The State Department for Petroleum has initiated appropriate administrative action against Mr Joseph Wafula, Deputy Director of Petroleum, while the management of the Kenya Pipeline Company has commenced due process against Mr Joel Mburu, Supply and Logistics Manager," the communique read in part. The resignations follow the arrest of the officials last Thursday night, by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) over their alleged role in importing a substandard fuel into the country. Inside sources also reveal that part of the plea bargain was that the officials may not be presented to court as government seeks to downplay the scheme and save face in the international oil market. It also emerged that the monies recovered from the officials would not be returned to them. Sunday Standard established that about Sh500 million could have been recovered on Thursday last week during the arrest of three top Ministry of energy officials. It however emerged that the money could have been handed over to a senior government official without any receipt or inventory. On Saturday, the police remained tight-lipped about the money, even as details emerged that at Sang's residence, investigators could have recovered Sh119 million in cash. A statement by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) however claimed that the resignations has not exonerated the officials from culpability. DCI stated that several other people of interest have recorded statements, including executive directors of One Petroleum Limited, a company that detectives have linked to irregular importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). The investigators said they have also summoned Oryx Energy Limited executives for statement recording. "Directorate of Criminal Investigations wishes to inform the public that resignation from office does not in way exonerate or absolve the suspects and persons of interest from criminal culpability," DCI stated DCI also said they are liaising with relevant government agencies and investigative agencies in other countries to establish all relevant facts surrounding this matter. "We are doing everything possible to deal with this matter expeditiously and will forward the file to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) in due course," the statement by DCI reads in part Adding, "Those found culpable will be dealt with firmly in accordance with the law, regardless of their positions, including the directors of the companies involved," Raids at the homes of the other officials yielded more money, bringing the total cash seized from all four properties to more than Sh500 million. On Saturday, the trio, having spent their third day in police cells, all resigned. According to an official press release from the Executive Office of the President dated Saturday, April 4, 2026, His Excellency the President received resignations from the principal officeholders. "Mr Mohamed Liban, Principal Secretary, State Department for Petroleum, has stepped down. The boards of Kenya Pipeline Company and EPRA have also accepted the resignations of Mr Joe Sang as Managing Director and Mr Daniel Kiptoo Bargoria as Director General, respectively." Additionally, "the State Department for Petroleum has initiated appropriate administrative action against Mr Joseph Wafula, Deputy Director of Petroleum, while KPC has commenced due process against Mr Joel Mburu, Supply and Logistics Manager." According to police sources, the four would be prosecuted under the Economic Crimes Act for allegedly neglecting their duties, specifically, failing to keep accurate logs, maintain adequate fuel stockpiles, and manage petroleum reserves properly. Investigators say their mishandling of a particular oil shipment threw supply lines into chaos and worsened shortages that were initially blamed on tensions with Iran. Insiders, however, argue that the officials may not be presented in court after all. At the heart of the investigation lies a questionable cargo brought in under the government-to-government fuel arrangement. The shipment was flagged for potential contamination, with suspicions that it contained sulfur levels well above what Kenyan law permits. That raised serious doubts about whether the fuel was even safe to use. A quality control officer at KPC reportedly caught the problem first. After running tests, he stopped the consignment from being distributed and passed his concerns up the chain of command. That move sparked fierce arguments among senior officials about whether to let the fuel reach consumers before the issue was formally handed over to investigators. The arrests were also tied to recent petrol imports by two local firms One Petroleum and Oryx that bypassed the G-to-G system entirely. Each company brought in sixty tonnes of petrol last month. Industry insiders note that one of those shipments cost a premium of $290 per tonne, compared to just $84 per tonne under the official government deal. Those two cargoes were given clearance only after a much larger shipment, 114.7 million litres of super petrol from Emirates National Oil Company got stuck at Dubai's Port of Jebel Ali because the Strait of Hormuz had been shut down. One Petroleum Limited, the company behind the importation of the fuel originally destined for Angola, belongs to Mohamed Jaffer. Official records from the Business Registration Service, dated April 3, 2026, reveal the corporate structure of One Petroleum Limited, one of the two local firms at the centre of the controversial fuel imports that bypassed the government-to-government deal. The company, registered on November 24, 2010 with a nominal share capital of Sh5.1 million, lists its registered office on Dedan Kimathi Road in Mombasa. Its shareholders include Mbaraki Holdings Limited, a Mauritius-based entity that holds 41,098 ordinary shares, while the directors are Kenyan nationals: Solomon Esebwe Mwanjumwa Ondego, Mujtaba Mohamed Jaffer, Ali Abbas Jaffer, Mohamed Husein Jaffer, and Ali Salaah Balala. The filings also show a web of debentures and assignments of receivables dating from July 2024 to December 2025, with amounts secured reaching as high as USD 300 million (over Sh38 billion). Notably, a specific debenture and deed of assignment of receivables were both executed on 2nd September 2024 for USD 95 million, raising questions about the company's financing arrangements just as investigators probe the Sh4 billion inflated fuel shipment that originated from Angola and was brought in outside the G2G framework.

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