Kenya Insights

Tag: Asharami Synergy

  • Omtatah Takes Fight to Senate over KPC Gas Facility Handover to Nigerian Firm

    Omtatah Takes Fight to Senate over KPC Gas Facility Handover to Nigerian Firm

    Busia Senator Andrew Omtatah Okoiti has escalated his probe into the controversial handover of a multibillion-shilling liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) facility from Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) to Nigerian firm Asharami Synergy, formally requesting a statement from the Senate’s Standing Committee on Energy.

    In a document dated May 6, 2025, Senator Omtatah invoked Standing Order 53(1) to demand answers regarding what he termed “a matter of national concern” – the abrupt halting of KPC’s plans to develop a 30,000-metric-tonne LPG facility in Mombasa and its subsequent transfer to the Nigerian company.

    “The Kenya Pipeline Company has been left counting losses amounting to millions of shillings after its plan to develop a 30,000-metric-tonne liquefied petroleum gas facility in Mombasa, aimed at making gas more affordable and accessible to consumers, was halted,” Omtatah stated in his formal request to the Senate.

    According to Omtatah, the Kenya Petroleum Refinery Limited (KPRL) has agreed to lease 23.19 acres of public land to Asharami Synergy on a 31-year lease to develop, operate, and maintain the plant.

    This decision comes after KPC had already invested significant taxpayer funds in preparatory work.

    Five Critical Questions Raised

    Senator Omtatah’s request outlines five specific issues the Energy Committee must address:

    1. Why KPC’s original plan to develop the Mombasa gas facility was “quashed” and handed over to Asharami Synergy, a subsidiary of Nigeria’s Sahara Group

    2. The circumstances behind the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum’s decision to bypass KPC in favor of the Nigerian firm

    3. Whether KPRL followed legal procedures in leasing 23.19 acres of public land to Asharami Synergy

    4. The selection process for the project developer, including details of all proposals received and justifications for the 31-year lease agreement

    5. How KPC plans to recover KES 192.64 million of taxpayers’ money spent on preliminary studies, including demand surveys, environmental assessments, and front-end engineering designs

    Omtatah alleges that KPC spent KES 192.64 million on preparatory work during the financial year ending June 2024. This includes demand surveys, environmental and social impact assessments, and front-end engineering designs – investments that may now benefit the Nigerian firm while leaving Kenyan taxpayers to absorb the losses.

    “KPC has been left to bear the costs of preparatory work already completed,” Omtatah noted.

    Timeline Raises New Questions

    This latest development adds a significant time element to the controversy.

    Our previous reporting revealed that the lease agreement was signed on April 6, 2025, just one month before Omtatah’s Senate request, and troublingly, two days before the mandatory Kenya Gazette notice was published.

    The Senator’s inquiry now reveals that substantial public funds were spent on the project as recently as the 2023-2024 financial year, raising questions about when the decision to transfer the project was actually made.

    Omtatah’s Senate submission reinforces concerns in our previous report about the deal’s transparency and legality.

    The matter has already drawn attention from the National Assembly’s Energy Committee, which summoned KPC’s managing director over allegations that the deal proceeded without proper environmental studies or the Attorney General’s consent.

    The controversy centers not just on procedural issues but on fundamental questions about Kenya’s energy sovereignty and asset management.

    Many have questioned why a project initially conceived to make cooking gas more affordable for Kenyans has been handed to a foreign entity, potentially compromising both national interests and consumer benefits.

    And with both houses of Parliament now investigating the matter, pressure is mounting on the Ministry of Energy and the involved parastatals to provide clear answers.

  • Nigerian Firm’s Controversial Mombasa Land Deal Sparks Outrage Over Transparency Failures

    Nigerian Firm’s Controversial Mombasa Land Deal Sparks Outrage Over Transparency Failures

    Nigerian Firm Asharami Synergy Granted 31-Year Mombasa Land Lease Without Environmental Study or AG’s Nod—Deal Signed Before Gazette Notice

    A murky deal granting Nigerian firm Asharami Synergy Ltd a 31-year lease on prime public land in Mombasa has ignited fierce criticism, with allegations of skipped legal steps, ignored oversight, and potential corruption.

    The lease, intended for a multibillion-shilling liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) handling and storage facility, was signed without an environmental impact study, without the Attorney General’s consent, and before public notification, raising red flags about transparency and accountability in Kenya’s public land dealings.

    Documents obtained by Kenya Insights, including correspondence from a whistleblower within the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Energy, reveal a troubling sequence of events.

    The land, owned by the Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited (KPRL), a largely defunct entity now under the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), was leased to Asharami Synergy on April 6, 2025.

    Astonishingly, the mandatory Kenya Gazette notice announcing the lease was published two days later, on April 8, effectively bypassing public scrutiny and input required by law.

    Further compounding concerns, the deal proceeded without the Attorney General’s approval, a critical legal requirement for leasing public land.

    Correspondence shows the AG’s concerns were “wilfully ignored,” according to Jaindi Kisero, a seasoned columnist who first broke the story. Kisero, citing parliamentary documents, also noted the absence of a fresh environmental impact study, with Asharami Synergy relying on a seven-year-old KPC study that experts say requires revalidation due to the significant public safety risks posed by LPG facilities.

    The National Assembly’s Energy Committee has summoned KPC’s managing director to explain the circumstances surrounding the deal, which critics argue reeks of political interference and favoritism.

    Sources suggest Asharami Synergy may have powerful local backers, with one unverified claim linking the firm to influential figures close to the government.

    “This is a textbook case of how investors exploit weak governance to secure public assets,” said Kisero, pointing to the deal’s transformation from a simple land lease to a public-private partnership (PPP) under a “build, operate, and transfer” model.

    This shift, he argues, allowed the firm to secure letters of support and implicit taxpayer-backed guarantees, turning the project into a potential financial liability for Kenyans.

    The deal has also drawn comparisons to existing private LPG facilities, such as those operated by Mombasa-based industrialist Mohammed Jaffer’s AGOL, which were built without taxpayer support.

    Critics question why Asharami Synergy was granted such generous concessions, including requests for free access to KPC’s front-end engineering designs, valued at Sh250 million, and the outdated environmental study.

    Public land leases in Kenya have long been a hotbed for corruption, with experts warning that opaque processes and inadequate oversight create fertile ground for illicit deals.

    “When information about leases and PPPs isn’t public, investors and officials can collude to divest public assets for personal gain,” Kisero noted, citing anti-corruption literature.

    The controversy has fueled calls for the deal’s cancellation. KPC had initially planned to develop the LPG facility itself, investing heavily in designs before the project was abruptly handed to Asharami Synergy, reportedly at the behest of a “powerful player.”

    As investigations unfold, Kenyans are left questioning whether their government prioritizes public interest or private profit.

    The Energy Committee’s probe is expected to shed light on the deal’s irregularities, but for now, the Asharami Synergy lease stands as a stark reminder of the fragility of transparency in Kenya’s public sector.