We’ll kill oil cartels, says PM

By SAMWEL KUMBA

The Government will not negotiate with oil distribution cartels that seem determined to arbitrary fix oil prices, Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said.

Mr Odinga on Tuesday accused the oil distribution companies of hastily hiking prices whenever that of the commodity goes up in the global market.

“However, when the international price of oil comes down, as it has done in the global arena, they now claim they are selling the old stock. How come when oil prices go up, they have never sold the old stock at the normal price and adjust later to higher prices for the new stock?” wondered the PM.

Hike prices

Mr Odinga assured Kenyans that there is sufficient oil at the country’s distribution points in Mombasa, Nairobi, Nakuru, Kisumu and Eldoret and urged distributors to hurry and take their portion.

“The so-called shortage is unfounded as it is just the issue of distribution. Oil distributing companies are not going for the oil from the distribution points. This is a cartel that just wants to hike the price of oil,” said the Prime Minister in his office.

Mr Odinga said that distributors who seem opposed to the Government’s intervention to protect the consumers will not be allowed to fix the oil prices as their aim is to exploit Kenyans.

“I am urging them to be considerate instead of their greedy nature. Let them transfer the oil reduction benefits to the consumer. Otherwise what they are doing is not right,” observed the PM.

Mr Odinga said that it was unfortunate that distributors are doing so during the festive season when most Kenyans travel to team up with friends and relatives to mark Christmas and New Year celebrations together.

This comes hardly two days after the Nation revealed that the shortage of oil in the country is artificial and aimed at pushing the prices of the commodity up.

But the Government has already strongly indicated that it will intervene to protect consumers by fixing oil prices beginning next month to dismantle the oil marketing companies’ exploitation plan.

Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi assured Kenyans that the Government will not spare oil marketers hoarding the commodity and has launched investigations to establish the correct scenario.

Meanwhile, Banks have issued warnings of foreclosure to fuel dispensing station owners who have failed to service overdrafts and loans due to oil products shortage.

Loss of business

Kenya Independent Petroleum Dealers Association (Kipeda) chairman, Keith Ngaruchi, said fuel supply constraints and resultant shortage had caused loss of business running into millions of shillings.

He said the shortage is putting thousands of jobs at risk if loans and overdrafts are not paid within time.

Kipeda on December 22 wrote a letter to Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi over acute fuel shortage and requested to be granted a meeting to work out a way of solving the issue.

It said at a press conference in Nairobi on Tuesday that the crisis was brought about by among other things Kenya Pipeline Company pumping constraints and Kenya Revenue Authority delay to clear documents.

Mr Ngaruchi said independents source fuel from major oil firms depots and accused multinationals of giving preference to their stations before attending to Kipeda members even if they had paid earlier.

Additional reporting by Kennedy Senelwa

Courtesy of:http://www.nation.co.ke