NAIROBI, Kenya – President William Ruto has defended Kenya’s Government-to-Government (G-to-G) fuel importation model after Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni raised concerns about middlemen involved in Uganda’s earlier petroleum procurement arrangements.
Speaking to Kenyans living in the United States in New York on Sunday, September 20, Ruto said his administration moved to eliminate brokers from Kenya’s fuel importation system after taking office in 2022.
“If there is anything we got right immediately when we took over the leadership of the country in 2022, it was to eliminate brokers in the importation of fuel,” Ruto said.
He said the G-to-G arrangement had also helped ease pressure on Kenya’s foreign exchange reserves by allowing petroleum suppliers to extend payment periods.
Ruto Defends Kenya’s Fuel Import Model
Ruto said the government consulted oil marketers when the programme was introduced and addressed challenges that emerged during its implementation.
“We have sorted out the problem in a permanent way. I can tell you without contradiction as President that we have the right model, better than any other,” he said.
The President challenged critics of the arrangement to compare the landed cost of petroleum products in Kenya and Uganda.
“Check the landed cost of petrol products between Kenya and Uganda and see which one is cheaper. We have a better model than even what Uganda is using today,” he said.
Ruto also claimed that other African countries, including Malawi and Burundi, had approached Kenya to learn how the system works.
Museveni Raises Questions Over Middlemen
Ruto’s comments followed remarks by Museveni about Uganda’s previous fuel procurement arrangements.
Museveni said Uganda had been purchasing petroleum products through intermediaries in Kenya without his knowledge.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Ugandan President said the late former Kenyan politician Cyrus Jirongo alerted him to the arrangement around 2019.
“It was a Kenyan Senator called Jirongo who told me this around 2019,” Museveni said, adding that he tasked then Energy Minister Irene Muloni with addressing the matter.
Museveni said the issue was eventually addressed in 2023 when Uganda entered into a new arrangement with global energy trader Vitol.
He said the new arrangement reduced the prices Uganda paid per metric tonne, citing reductions for diesel, petrol and aviation fuel.
2019 Claims Predate Kenya’s G-to-G Deal
The timeline is significant because Museveni’s account refers to concerns raised in 2019, while Kenya’s current G-to-G petroleum importation framework was introduced in 2023.
Kenya entered into Master Framework Agreements in March 2023 with Aramco Trading Fujairah, ADNOC Global Trading and Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC).
The Treasury said the arrangement was introduced largely to address a shortage of US dollars and foreign-exchange pressure caused by petroleum imports.
The framework allowed suppliers to extend payment periods, easing the immediate demand for dollars from oil marketers and reducing pressure on Kenya’s foreign-exchange reserves.
Kenya Defends Role of Local Oil Marketers
Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi has also defended the participation of Kenyan oil marketers in the G-to-G system.
The ministry said the international suppliers selected the local companies that would handle distribution rather than the Kenyan government choosing them.
Wandayi argued that insisting on government-selected companies could have undermined the arrangement and threatened its viability.
The government has maintained that the involvement of local oil marketing companies does not mean the petroleum is being procured through brokers in the sense alleged by Museveni about Uganda’s earlier system.
Political Pressure Mounts Over Deal
Museveni’s remarks have nevertheless triggered renewed scrutiny of Kenya’s G-to-G fuel arrangement.
Opposition figures have called for greater disclosure of the agreements and scrutiny of the role of intermediaries in the importation and distribution chain.
Ruto, meanwhile, maintains that the G-to-G model has helped address foreign-exchange pressures and provides Kenya with a more effective petroleum importation system.
