Businesswoman Anne Njeri in Sh17b oil deal skips parliamentary grilling

Njeri is said to be the owner of a consignment of 100,000 metric tonnes of diesel that was imported from Saudi Arabia and is now being disputed by Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir and Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u.

CS Chirchir has alleged that Njeri presented forged documents with which she wanted to lay claim to the oil cargo, which he said was imported by Aramco Trading Fujairah FZE through Galana Energies Limited.

He said Njeri failed to meet the minimum threshold to secure the import license and the documents she used to claim the oil consignment were all fake.

He dismissed claims by the businesswoman that she is the bonafide importer of the cargo, saying her application for an oil importation license was rejected on October 29 by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra).

The dispute has also attracted the attention of Azimio leader Raila Odinga, who has accused the two CSs of being part of a scam to loot public funds by withdrawing Sh42.97 billion from the consolidated fund, without the approval of Parliament, to subsidize "private financial enterprises" in the oil sector.

Odinga has since demanded the resignation and prosecution of the two CSs, claiming he has evidence linking them to the illegal withdrawal of Sh17.2 billion from the consolidated fund in June 2023, which he suspects was used to pay for the disputed diesel.

The Energy Committee has also summoned the two CSs, the oil companies involved in the deal, and the relevant regulatory agencies to shed light on the matter and provide the necessary documents to verify the ownership, origin, and destination of the diesel.