Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum Opiyo Wandayi…Photo/IP
NAIROBI, Kenya
There is no fuel shortage in Kenya — at least according to the man in charge, Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum Opiyo Wandayi — even as top officials under his watch exit in a scandal now dripping with intrigue, billions and unanswered questions.
While Wandayi insists the country has sufficient fuel stocks and a “stable” supply system, the crisis has already claimed several high-ranking casualties — raising a more uncomfortable question: if the system failed, who exactly was in charge of the system?
Among those who have stepped aside is Mohamed Liban, the Principal Secretary for Petroleum, a key figure in policy execution and oversight of fuel supply.
Also out is Daniel Kiptoo Bargoria, the Director General of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) — the very agency tasked with regulating fuel pricing, quality and supply integrity.
Then there is Joe Sang, who headed the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), the backbone of Kenya’s fuel storage and distribution network.
If fuel data was manipulated or supply misrepresented, investigators believe these offices sat dangerously close to the control panel.
At the center of the commercial storm sits One Petroleum Limited, the firm behind the controversial MT Paloma shipment — a cargo that has now become shorthand for how to turn a routine fuel import into a billion-shilling headache.
Imported outside the traditional government-to-government framework, the shipment reportedly came at a significantly inflated cost, complete with questionable waivers that critics say should never have seen daylight.
Investigators suspect that fuel stock data may have been “adjusted” — not falsified, of course, just gently persuaded — to justify emergency imports that opened the door for high-priced deals.
In simpler terms: create urgency, then cash in on it.
Despite the cascade of resignations beneath him, Wandayi remains firmly in office.
The question now echoing across political and public spaces is simple — and sharp: if the top floor is leaking, does the ceiling fix itself or does the landlord step out?
In most systems, accountability flows upward.
But in this case, the Cabinet Secretary has distanced himself from operational failures, framing the issue as one of technical and administrative lapses handled by the now-departed officials.
It is a convenient distinction — one that separates policy from execution, even when both sit in the same boardroom.
Critics, however, are not convinced. They argue that the CS chairs the very structures that oversee these agencies, approves key decisions and ultimately bears political responsibility for what happens under his watch — whether or not he signed off on a specific cargo.
Supporters counter that investigations are still ongoing and that resignation before due process would amount to trial by public opinion — a dangerous precedent in governance.
Meanwhile, Kenyans are left watching a familiar script unfold: officials resign, investigations expand and the system promises reform — all while insisting, with a straight face, that there is no shortage of fuel.
Perhaps there isn’t but there is certainly no shortage of irony.
