President Ruto orders sacking, arrest of Gov’t officials who issued licence to Embakasi gas plant

President William Ruto has directed the Ministry of Energy to take action against officials involved in issuing licence for the gas refilling company involved in the Embakasi explosion tragedy.

The President, who spoke on Saturday during the groundbreaking ceremony for Chekalini ESP Market in Lugari, Kakamega County, accused the officials of incompetence and abetting corruption by bypassing the stipulations of the law on licensing.

He therefore tasked the ministry to deal firmly with the rogue officials over the incident that left three people dead and over 280 others injured.

“The government officials who issued licenses for gas installations in residential areas, when it was clear that it was wrong…but because of incompetence and corruption they issued them and today we have injured and dead citizens,” he said.

“Those fellows involved, the ministry must immediately take action against them and they must be dismissed and prosecuted for the crimes committed.”

The pronouncement by Ruto came after the Energy Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) revealed that the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) plant in the Embakasi tragedy was operating illegally.

Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir and his Interior counterpart Prof. Kithure Kindiki on Friday echoed EPRA’s statement disclosing that three permit applications (March 19, June 20, and July 31) by the company to construct a gas plant were all rejected for not meeting set standards.

“Twice, in March 2020 and January 2021, the plant that was illegally constructed at the said location was demolished by EPRA and the operators charged in Court,” they said in a statement.