'Senator Jirongo' exposed middlemen in G-to-G oil deal - Museveni

According to Museveni, Jirongo, told him about the backdoor oil dealings in 2019.

“It was a Kenyan Senator called Jirongo who told me this around 2019. I immediately tasked the then Minister Irene Muloni to sort out that mess,” said the Ugandan leader in a tweet on Sunday evening. 

The revelations followed Museveni’s exposé on Thursday, in which he said Uganda had previously procured petroleum products through intermediaries in Kenya, rather than directly from the government as outlined in the G-to-G framework. 

“The Republic of Uganda was buying petroleum products through middlemen in Kenya. Can you imagine that? And the person who woke me up first was a senator from Kenya,” Museveni said during the groundbreaking ceremony for a 320-million-litre petroleum storage terminal in Mpigi District, Uganda.

Museveni said the revelation prompted him to end the G-to-G arrangement with Kenya, and begin sourcing bulk petroleum products directly. 

The Ugandan president further criticised his government officials for failing to identify what he described as an unnecessarily costly procurement arrangement.

However, he accused the Kenyan media of misrepresenting his statement made in Mpigi District. 

Museveni's recent outburst has since sparked a response from Kenya. The Ministry of Energy, in a statement on Sunday, dismissed allegations of irregularities in the importation and supply of refined petroleum products under the Government-to-Government arrangement.

Instead, Energy CS Opiyo Wandayi said Kenya brokered an importation deal with private companies in 2023 to alleviate liquidity challenges occasioned by dollar scarcity. 

The deal, he said, involved Aramco Trading Fujairah FZE (Aramco), Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) Global Trading Ltd and Emirates National Oil Company (Singapore) Private Limited (ENOC), which were tasked to supply refined petroleum products on extended credit terms of 180 days.

Wandayi added that International Oil Companies (IOCs) then opted to appoint licensed counterparties in Kenya for local supply logistics. This, he said, included Gulf Energy Limited, Galana Energies Limited and Oryx Energies Kenya Limited. 

"As the arrangement progressed, the transaction was de-risked, leading to higher confidence by the IOCs and subsequent nomination of more counterparties who are: One Petroleum Limited, Asharami Synergy Limited and BE Energy Limited," said the Kenyan minister. 

On Friday, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who has been vocal in his criticism of theG-to-G deal, said Museveni’s revelations had reinforced concerns he had previously raised.

Gachagua accused President William Ruto of orchestrating the oil supply irregularities through proxies in the Middle East. 

"He went to the Middle East and identified three companies and made a deal with them and then looked for a proxy, a company called Gulf Oil. That is the company that fronts William Ruto. So he is the one doing business,” Gachagua alleged.