Kenya’s government has announced plans to terminate the government-to-government (G-to-G) oil deal with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said on Thursday, January 19, that the move was aimed at stabilizing the depreciating Kenya shillings against the dollar.
“The government has notified the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of plans to exit the G-to-G oil deal with three state-owned Gulf companies,” Mwaura said.
Last year, Kenya’s Ministry of Energy inked a G-to-G oil deal with Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation Global Trading (ADNOC), and Emirate’s National Oil Company (NOC).
The Kenya Kwanza administration said the deal would help to ease forex pressure due to dollar shortages.
Likewise, President William Ruto said the agreement would afford local marketers breathing room for settling dollar-denominated fuel imports
Despite the deal, the Kenyan Shilling continued to be on a free fall against the dollar, and by December, it had lost 19 percent of its value.
This elicited a national debate with Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party leader Raila Odinga calling for the immediate resignation of Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u and his Energy counterpart Davies Chirchir.
“CSs Davis Chirchir and Njuguna Ndung’u have gone against the constitution, committed criminal offenses, and abused office. They must not only resign but also be prosecuted,” he said.
The Azimio leader alleged that the G-to-G oil deal was a corruption scandal hatched to withdraw money from the exchequer against the law.
He justified his claims by pointing out that the State-owned National Oil Company was bypassed by the government in favor of handpicked private players.
