Senate probes stakeholders over controversial cooking oil imports

By Peter Ochieng

The Senate Standing Committee on Trade, Industrialization and Tourism, led by Kajiado Senator Lenku Ole Kanar Seki, on Thursday convened a meeting to probe the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC) and Charma Holdings Limited officials over the controversial importation of cooking oil.

The session was attended by KNTC’s General Manager for Strategy, Risk, and Compliance, Lucy Anangwe, and Charma Holdings Director, Ruth Waithira Kinyanjui.

The inquiry came on the backdrop of a statement request from Marsabit Senator Mohamed Chute, who sought clarity on the quantities and costs associated with the importation of cooking oil by KNTC.

The Committee requested for details of the suppliers including their addresses, the volumes of cooking oil imported per supplier, and the status of sold and unsold stock.

According to a dispatch from Parliament, they were also tasked to establish payments made and any outstanding balances.

However, several suppliers, including Multi Commerce Exports FZC, Purma Holdings Limited, Shehena Commodity Trading Limited, Enterprise Supplies Limited and Evertec General Trading Company Limited, failed to appear before the committee.

Anangwe provided a list of suppliers—Charma Holdings Limited, Multi Commerce FZC and Shehena Commodity, who were awarded contracts under Letter of Credit (LC) agreements.

She detailed that KNTC procured a total of 2,517,788 jerrycans of edible cooking oil, with Multi Commerce FZC supplying the bulk at 1,971,794 jerrycans. Charma Holdings supplied 532,574 jerrycans, while Shehena Commodity contributed 13,420 jerrycans.

Of these, she said, 1,510,025 jerrycans have been cleared and warehoused, while 1,007,963 jerrycans remain at the Container Freight Station (CFS), awaiting clearance.

Senators Jackson Mandago (Uasin Gishu) and Okiya Omtatah (Busia) raised concerns regarding the criteria and transparency involved in the appointment of the procurement committee.

Anangwe responded that the procurement was conducted under special circumstances, requesting additional time to provide a more comprehensive submission on the procurement matter.

The Committee's chairperson, directed that the entire KNTC Board be summoned to provide full disclosure on the corporation’s role from inception to execution of the procurement process.

The Board will also need to address the absence of a substantive CEO and furnish a complete list of suppliers involved.