Three key figures in Kenya’s energy sector have resigned following allegations of manipulation of fuel stock data and irregular procurement practices within the country's petroleum supply chain.
Mr Mohamed Liban, the Principal Secretary for Petroleum, Joe Sang, the Managing Director of the Kenya Pipeline Company, who had been temporarily replaced on Friday, April 3, 2026 and Daniel Kiptoo Bargoria, the Director General of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, all submitted their resignations after being implicated in the scandal.
President William Ruto accepted the resignation of Mr Liban, while those of Mr Sang and Mr Kiptoo were accepted by their organisations’ boards, according to Felix Koskei, Dr Ruto’s Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service.
The resignations come as the government escalates a full inquiry into serious breaches, including the procurement of substandard emergency fuel at inflated prices in violation of the G2G framework.
Investigations on the other two other suspects, Joseph Wafula, the Deputy Director of Petroleum in the Ministry, and Joel Mburu, a Supply and Logistics Manager at KPC, have begun, Mr Koskei said in a statement.
“The government is committed to protecting the public interest and safeguarding national resources. Any act of economic sabotage will be thoroughly investigated, and those found responsible will face firm and decisive action,” said Mr Koskei.
In a statement, Mr Koskei confirmed that the arrests followed President Ruto's concerns over potential manipulation of domestic fuel stock data by key duty bearers.
Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei.
Photo credit: File| Nation Media Group
“This manipulation appears to have been designed to take advantage of rising global fuel prices and public anxiety, creating a false impression of an impending supply shortage,” Mr Koskei said.
The Head of Public Service explained that the misrepresentation led to the irregular procurement of emergency fuel shipments by the Ministry of Energy, involving Mr Liban, Mr Sang and Mr Kiptoo.
“The shipment in question was procured in clear violation of the Government-to-Government (G2G) framework, at a price far above the agreed contract rates, with total disregard for established emergency procurement procedures. The quality of the fuel was also substandard,” Mr Koskei added.
He called on all relevant stakeholders within the energy sector to fully cooperate with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and other agencies looking into the matter.
“All governance actors in the sector must provide full access to all pertinent information to aid these investigations,” he urged.
The five men were arrested on Thursday night, April 2, 2026, and held at the Gigiri, Capitol Hill and Lang’ata police stations by DCI officers, with the detectives reportedly seizing money running in hundreds of millions of shillings.
Authorities are probing whether due process was bypassed in fuel procurement and whether regulatory oversight failed at critical points. The involvement of EPRA’s top leadership has only heightened concerns about enforcement gaps.
They were detained at different police stations before being transferred to DCI headquarters along Kiambu Road on Friday afternoon.
Meanwhile, DCI on Saturday confirmed in a statement that it has recorded statements from several government officers and executives of One Petroleum Ltd.
One Petroleum Ltd is associated with Mombasa tycoon Mohamed Jaffer and imported a 68,000-tonne consignment worth Sh2.5 billion.
Executives of the Kenyan arm of Swiss-owned Oryx Energies have been summoned to record statements, the DCI added in its statement.
The DCI probe will extend to other countries from which the One Petroleum Ltd and Oryx Energies consignments were sourced from.
“The DCI is actively liaising with government agencies and investigative agencies in other countries under the Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) programme to establish all relevant facts surrounding this matter. Accordingly, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations wishes to inform the public that resignation from office does not in any way exonerate or absolve the suspects and persons of interest from criminal culpability. They are therefore strongly urged to cooperate fully with the investigators,” the DCI added in its statement.
It added that resignation from office does not absolve suspects from criminal liability and urged all persons of interest to cooperate fully with investigators.
The agency assured the public that the probe is being conducted with professionalism, transparency and urgency, reiterating the government’s commitment to tackling corruption and safeguarding public resources.
