The united opposition has issued a sharp set of demands to President William Ruto’s government following steep fuel price increases and what they describe as a deeply corrupt fuel importation arrangement. Speaking at a press conference former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua led the charge accusing Ruto personally of using the Government-to-Government fuel deal to enrich himself and connected private companies at the expense of ordinary Kenyans.
Gachagua alleged that the G-to-G deal is not a genuine government arrangement but a scheme that channels profits to private firms linked to Ruto including Gulf Energy and associated businesses.
He claimed Ruto earns at least Ksh5 per litre through proxies and that the cumulative profits running through the arrangement have reached staggering figures. He also named Energy CS Opiyo Wandayi and Felix Koskei as figures connected to the scandal.
On the recent arrests of energy officials Gachagua said they had nothing to do with regulatory violations.
He described the arrests as a business dispute where officials who tried to import cheaper fuel outside the G-to-G framework were targeted because their lower-cost imports threatened to undercut profits flowing to Ruto-linked interests.
He further claimed that Wandayi was in the Middle East negotiating fuel deals at the very time he was supposed to appear before a parliamentary committee. Gachagua said those negotiations were aimed at securing arrangements that would result in further price increases for Kenyan consumers while benefiting the same connected players.
The opposition laid out clear demands. They called for Parliament to be urgently convened to review and halt the G-to-G deal.
They demanded the immediate resignation of Wandayi and Trade CS Lee Kinyanjui who signed off on the entry of substandard fuel. They pushed for suspension of the Road Maintenance Levy the Affordable Housing Levy and NSSF deductions to ease the burden on workers and businesses.
They also called for VAT on fuel to be scrapped entirely going beyond the government’s reduction from 16 to 13 percent which they dismissed as inadequate. Gachagua and allies warned that if the government failed to act the opposition would mobilise mass demonstrations across the country.
The government has defended the G-to-G framework and denied any personal profiteering while Wandayi has ruled out resigning. The political battle over fuel is now fully in the open.