This archive report was first published on 6 September 2019.
On September 6, 2019, a shocking revelation emerged about a massive loss of taxpayers' money, with 51 million litres of jet fuel disappearing from the JKIA depot, valued at a staggering Sh 5 billion.
The disappearance of the fuel occurred during an airport workers strike on March 7, 2019, which disrupted international and domestic flights. The strike was sparked by a proposed merger between the Kenya Airport Authority and Kenya Airways.
Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) discovered the huge variance in jet fuel stocks and wrote to the Kenya Pipeline Company to explain the loss. In a letter dated March 4, 2019, the OMC stated that the total loadable stocks held by all oil marketers was 61.78 million litres of jet fuel, but Kenya Pipeline insisted it had only 10.52 million litres in their system.
According to the OMC, after the strike, a huge variance between Kenya Pipeline's books and the physical stocks was discovered. The OMC wrote, 'We wish to advise that this reported low Jet A-1 stocks and looming fuel crisis within KPC system is not clear to us. It is therefore evident that there is a huge variance between KPC books and the physical stocks. The 51.26 million litres variance of our jet stocks in the KPC system requires an explanation from KPC as we have already imported this stock and discharged it into the KPC system and the same confirmed by your records.'
Insider reports suggest that the jet fuel was allegedly siphoned at the Kenya Pipeline Company depot in JKIA in a coordinated operation by mysterious persons. The unidentified individuals took advantage of the confusion at the airport to siphon out the fuel, leading to the loss of Sh 5 billion belonging to innocent oil marketers.
As of the time of going to press, no investigations had been reported from the DCI headquarters regarding the mysterious loss of the jet fuel.
