How EPRA, ministries dropped the ball on Embakasi death plant

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory (EPRA) also said it had on three occasions last year turned down applications that the firm made to operate a gas storage and refilling plant.

The company would go on to set up the plan that has now caused deaths, left hundreds of residents with injuries, some of them life threatening.

In turning down the applications, EPRA had reservations that the firm was setting up in a highly populated area.

The regulator however appears not to have followed up the matter while the firm never showed up on its radar, despite EPRA undertaking regulatory scrutiny on operators of cooking gas storage and refilling plants and shutting a number of them while penalising their operators.

Despite reports in the media as well as information from security agencies, the firm appeared to have gone on to start operations.

Paramedics administer first aid to survivors after a gas explosion in Embakasi. [Mike Kihaki, Standard]

She added that the truck that had been impounded by the authorities was the one that caused the Thursday explosion.

"The magistrate continued to release all motor vehicles including two LPG tankers together with the confiscated LPG bulk with a net weight of 4.660 kilogrammes, despite the law providing for mandatory forfeiture," said Manyara.

"One of the tankers procedurally released by the courts... is one of the tankers involved in this incident."

"Despite the actions and convictions, the proprietor continued operating the illegal storage and refilling facility without the bare minimum safety standards and qualified LPG personnel as required by the law leading to this unfortunate catastrophe, which could have been avoided should the letter and spirit of the law have been followed."

The explosion on Thursday evening adds to the numerous instances that have left many Kenyans dead or grappling with disability, yet the energy sector authorities appear unmoved.

The LPG Regulations of 2019 and other laws spell out how cooking gas should be handled, specifying how storage and refilling plans should look like from design stage to day to day operations as well as transportation of the gas not just for commercial purposes but also by households when refilling their cylinders.

"A person shall not transport more than three filled cylinders by road, except in accordance with the terms of a valid licence issued by the Authority," said the regulations on transportation of LPG by consumers refilling for their domestic use.

EPRA further has regulations in place that govern the licensing of transportation, handling and sale of cooking gas by businesses dealing in the fuel.