NAIROBI, Kenya – Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro has raised questions about the identity of the investor who acquired a Sh42.5 billion stake in Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), alleging that the buyer has private business links to President William Ruto.
The allegation adds a new dimension to the debate surrounding the transfer of billions of KPC shares from State-backed institutions to an unidentified investor, months after public entities invested heavily in the company’s initial public offering (IPO).
Nyoro claims the transaction could benefit individuals with private interests in the proposed Dangote East Africa Petroleum Refinery in Lamu. However, no independently verified evidence has established that the buyer is linked to Ruto or that the President has a personal financial interest in the refinery.
The identity of the buyer remains a central unanswered question in the transaction.
Sh42.5 Billion Deal Puts Investor Identity Under Scrutiny
Reports published this week indicate that unidentified investors acquired approximately 4.5 billion KPC shares, equivalent to 24.76 per cent of the company, in a transaction valued at about Sh42.5 billion.
The shares changed hands months after State-backed institutions participated in KPC’s IPO, which began trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange in March 2026.
The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) was among the largest institutional participants in the IPO, alongside the Public Servants Pension Scheme, County Workers Pension Fund and the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority.
According to Business Daily, the State-backed institutions had been encouraged to participate in the IPO after demand from private investors proved weaker than expected.
The subsequent transfer has prompted questions about why public institutions bought substantial stakes during the IPO and then sold shares to an investor whose identity has not been publicly established in the reports.
For Nyoro, the issue goes beyond the share transaction itself. He alleges that the unidentified buyer has interests connected to the President’s wider business activities and the proposed Lamu refinery.
Why Nyoro Is Linking The Deal To The Lamu Refinery
The Kiharu MP’s allegations come amid an ongoing public debate about the ownership structure and investment terms of the planned Dangote East Africa Petroleum Refinery.
The project, launched in Lamu on September 30, 2026, is expected to have a processing capacity of up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Its ownership arrangements, financing structure and the extent of Kenya’s proposed participation have attracted calls for greater transparency.
Nyoro has argued that the refinery’s shareholding structure should be disclosed so Kenyans can establish who stands to benefit from the investment.
His latest allegations seek to connect that transparency question to the KPC share transfer, suggesting that the identity of the investor could be significant to understanding the wider commercial interests involved.
However, the KPC transaction and the refinery investment are separate matters unless documentary evidence establishes a connection between them. No verified document cited in the available reporting establishes that the KPC buyer is a shareholder in the refinery or that Ruto has an interest in the purchasing entity.
Government Has Denied Claims Of Ruto’s Refinery Ownership
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has previously rejected claims that Ruto owns shares in the planned Lamu refinery.
In September, Mbadi defended the project and denied that the President had a personal stake in it, saying the proposed regional shareholding arrangement should not be interpreted as evidence of Ruto’s ownership.
That denial contrasts with allegations by Nyoro and other critics, who have called for disclosure of the refinery’s shareholders and investment agreement.
The outstanding question is whether official ownership records, beneficial ownership disclosures or the transaction documents will identify the investor behind the KPC share purchase and clarify any potential links to other investments.
Questions Over Pensioners’ Money
Nyoro has also questioned the decision by public institutions managing pension funds and other public assets to invest heavily in the KPC IPO before shares were transferred to a private buyer.
He alleges that institutional executives were pressured to participate in the offering and that some were instructed to sell their holdings later. He further claims the institutions could have incurred losses after accounting for transaction costs and the time value of money.
These allegations have not been independently established in full. Assessing whether the institutions made or lost money would require their actual acquisition costs, sale prices, fees, dividends received and the dates on which the transactions took place.
The distinction matters because the sale price alone cannot establish the overall investment return, particularly where dividends and holding-period costs are involved.
The transaction’s scale, however, places the investment decisions of public institutions under renewed scrutiny.
The Disclosure Question
The immediate issue is whether the identity of the buyer and the beneficial owners behind the KPC transaction will be made public, allowing investors and the public to assess the deal independently.
The refinery controversy raises a related question: whether the government will disclose the agreements and ownership arrangements underpinning one of Kenya’s largest proposed industrial investments.
