Imported edible oils scandal fries KNTC top heads’ careers
Former Kenya National Trading Corporation managing director Pamela Mutua.
Ms Pamela Mutua has exited the troubled Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC) in the wake of a Sh16.5 billion edible oils corruption investigation at the State agency.
The departure of the former managing director is part of a shakeup of the agency’s top management team.
Ms Mutua’s position is one of the five senior positions that have been declared vacant by the corporation’s board.
On Tuesday, KNTC advertised top managerial positions including purchasing and sales general manager, warehousing manager as well as counterparts in Finance and Treasury, and business development.
The latest development comes at a time when senior officers at the State-owned agency are under investigation over the controversial importation of 125,000 tonnes of duty-free cooking oil.
“Interested candidates are hereby called upon to apply to the address below via Post Office or hand delivery latest February 12, 2024 at 5pm,” reads the advert.
Ms Mutua was among senior officials of the corporation who were arrested in November last year before being questioned by the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) over their alleged role in the scam.
This is after it emerged in June 2023 that companies owned by individuals linked to the government were single-sourced to procure edible oil through KNTC.
With double-pronged investigations, also involving the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), going on, Mr Peter Njoroge was catapulted to the helm of the corporation to replace Ms Mutua in December last year albeit in an acting capacity.
Speaking to the Nation on Thursday, Ms Mutua said she had been on terminal leave before her contract came to an end on Friday, January 19, 2024.
The former managing director was appointed to the position on January 20, 2021 for a contract period of three years, open to renewal.
“My contract ended last Friday. I have finished with them. I am no longer an employee of KNTC,” said Ms Mutua.
The 49-year-old said she was eligible for renewal but she opted not to lobby for the second term at the agency. “You know you are supposed to renew your contract six months to the lapse but I opted not to,” she said.
Ms Mutua joined the State-owned agency boasting over two decades of expertise in brand marketing and corporate communications working with various blue chip organisations before the oil importation saga dragged her to the centre of a storm in her last year in office.
Importation of the cargo began in October 2022 when the Cabinet gave the go-ahead to KNTC to import the cooking oil as part of a strategy to stabilise the prices of essential household items.
“KNTC will leverage on its infrastructure and capacity to help stabilise price swings of essential items that are abnormal and against the public interest,” read the Cabinet memo.
Nonetheless, controversy dogged the exercise after it emerged that KNTC single-sourced companies contracted to bring in the cargo.
The scandal came to the fore after MPs from the National Assembly’s Agriculture Committee raised concern over the duty-free import and how the suppliers were identified.
While appearing before the Senate last year, former Trade CS Moses Kuria told them that the idea to import the edible oil was mooted to protect Kenyans from cartels to arrest the ballooning costs of edible oils.
“I instructed KNTC to import edible oil with a target that one kilo of edible oil would retail at Sh250... the price of oil has gone down today to Sh218 per litre,” Mr Kuria said then.
However, after industry wars and alleged personal interest in the dealings the project failed to deliver cheaper cooking oil to Kenyans.
In October last year, President William Ruto ordered investigations into the finances of three senior-ranking government officials implicated in the scandal through the cooking of prices of the imported edible oil.
This is after the three officers inflated the price by an average of $7 per litre, thus negating the original intention of Kenya importing the cooking oil.
This meant that after being converted, the 125,000,000 litres were imported at an added cost of Sh875 million. The consignment was initially estimated at a total cost of Sh9 billion.
President Ruto then directed the Head of Public Service Felix Koskei to write to the EACC to open investigations with the view of prosecuting those involved.
The EACC later formally opened investigations into the alleged embezzlement of public funds at the agency through irregular award of tenders for supply and delivery of food commodities during the financial years ending June 2023 and 2024.
The DCI in November last year also launched their investigations arresting top KNTC directors as well as the bank official who guaranteed the funds.
High-ranking government officials were also sought over alleged interference with the procurement process following reports that they pushed for the consideration of specific firms.
Some directors at the agency are facing accusations of not independently making decisions in the imports deals.
A parastatal chair’s company is alleged to have been favoured during the procurement process and paid her dues, only to deliver the commodity that now lies idle at the KNTC warehouse in Industrial Area, Nairobi.
EACC Spokesperson Mr Eric Ngumbi on Wednesday told the Nation they are still going on with the investigations, adding that forensic work is a complex matter and not an overnight thing as it involves a lot of things.
“We are on top of the matter. We have been investigating the matter even before any other agency took it up and we continue to investigate,” said Mr Ngumbi. “At some stage we will take our file to the Director Public Prosecutions (DPP), but we have not reached that stage.”
The EACC has been investigating alleged embezzlement of public funds at the KNTC through the irregular award of tenders and delivery of food commodities for the financial years 2022/2023 and 2023/2024.
