Former Managing Director of the Kenya National Trading Cooperation (KNTC) Pamela Mutua has been arrested by police as investigations into the Ksh16.5 billion edible oil scandal intensify.
Pamela and Head of Procurement Amos Juma Sikuku were charged with five counts of failing to comply with the law following their arrest over alleged procurement irregularities in the issuance of an oil importation tender to Purma Holdings Limited in 2022.
The oil was imported to help subsidize the cost of food and bring down the cost of living.
Pamela resigned from the corporation in January 2024, following a shake up in the wake of the edible oils scandal investigations at the agency.
Also Read: KEBS Clears Air on Safety of Ksh17B Edible Oil Said to Be Poisonous
How Pamela Mutua Was Implicated in the Case
In November 29, 2023, Pamela Mutua was arrested by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to record statements over the Ksh16.5 billion edible oil importation scandal.
Rebecca Miano, who was the then Trade Cabinet Secretary, told a Senate Committee that DCI had arrested officials of the Kenya National Trading Cooperation (KNTC) including Pamela after they were implicated in the scandal.
Questions were raised over the importation deal after it was discovered that private firms were granted the procurement of tax-free oil instead of having a government agency doing it.
Additionally, the private firms sold the imported oil to KNTC, with the state corporation later selling the oil through other state firms.
However, former CS Moses Kuria, who served as the Trade Cabinet Secretary dispelled the claims.
Also Read: REVEALED: How Govt Lost Billions in Duty-Free Import Scandal
Govt on the Oil Being Unsafe for Consumption
Later in December 2023, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) declared that the imported 125,000 Metric Tonnes of edible oil was unsafe for consumption.
Further, KEBS in a letter to the Kenya National Trading Cooperation (KNTC), directed that the oil consignment is either destroyed or shipped back to the country of origin.
At the same time, the bureau detailed that the oil was tested against the Kenya standardization specification for fortified edible oils and fats.
“The consignment have been rejected and the importer is hereby advised to reship them back to the country of origin within 30 days from the date of this letter, failure to which they shall be destroyed at the importers’ cost,” a letter from the bureau read in part.
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