Senators grill businesswoman Ruth Waithira Kinyanjui over Ksh.16B edible oils scandal

The Senate Committee on Trade, Industrialization, and Tourism has demanded that Ruth Waithira Kinyanjui, the Director of Charma Holdings, furnish the House with all documentation related to the contentious procurement of edible oil through the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC).

The Parliamentary watchdog investigating the Ksh.16 billion edible oil importation scandal also sought to know from Kinyanjui the whereabouts of a significant consignment linked to the firm that was neither received nor distributed in the country.

"This country has lost a lot of money. This deal was initiated by cartels who increased the cost of edible oil instead of decreasing it. I am not saying she is a cartel,” said Marsabit Senator Mohammed Chute.

His Uasin Gisgu counterpart Jackson Mandago added: "The edible oil was meant to lower the cost of living, but the opposite happened."

The committee sought to establish from Kinyanjui under what circumstances she obtained a Letter of Credit to purchase such a large volume of the commodity.

"How did you secure the Letter of Credit to import edible oil? Because that primarily lies with KNTC,” Senators asked.

"We secured it through KNTC, and the bank provided us with security,” Kinyanjui responded.

"Out of what you supplied, were all goods delivered?" They continued.

Kinyanjui openly admitted that part of the consignment failed to be delivered and distributed, with its whereabouts unknown.

She noted: "About 25 containers lacked proper documentation and were returned. I don’t know where the oil went."

Legislators faulted the KNTC for using middlemen to import the edible oil instead of dealing directly with the suppliers, expressing concerns as to whether there was value for money in the entire deal.

"Did you sell the commodity at a cheaper price compared with the prevailing market prices?" The committee posed.

Kinyanjui answered, "No, we traded at existing rates."

The genesis of the alleged Ksh.16 billion edible oil scandal began with a November 15, 2022, memo giving the KNTC the mandate to import essential commodities to stabilize prices.

The letter stated: “The purpose of the memorandum was to seek the approval of the Cabinet for KNTC to import essential commodities (maize, beans, rice, sugar, wheat, soya, and cooking oil/fat) and fertilizer as an interventional measure to lower the current cost of living.”

On November 20, 2022, the National Treasury ordered the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to facilitate the exemption of duty on 150,000 tonnes of cooking fat, 200,000 tonnes of sugar, 800,000 tonnes of beans, and 25,000 tonnes of wheat.

Thus, duty on edible oil was operationalized through a November 2022 gazette notice establishing the National Steering Committee on Drought Response.