Investigation reveals how Kapala blocked importation of cheaper fuel
By Mukosha Funga Njenga
AN investigation has revealed that Energy Minister Peter Kapala cancelled a contract for the importation of cheaper fuel by Devon Oil Zambia Limited, before giving preference to Agro-Fuel Investment, a company that is under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Zambia has been battling with high fuel prices, with petrol and diesel selling at around K30 per litter, the highest that the commodity has ever been sold at.
Two weeks ago, President Hakainde Hichilema, while swearing in Peter Mumba as new Energy Permanent Secretary, said the increased fuel prices had pushed the cost of living higher, and urged the regulatory authority to switch from monthly price reviews in order to allow businesses and households to plan.
On Wednesday, president of the Oil Marketing Companies Association of Zambia Dr Kafula Mubanga charged that Kapala was engaging in economic sabotage by single-sourcing Agro-Fuel.
On the same day, the Anti-Corruption Commission announced that it was investigating allegations of corruption in the irregular award of a tender for the supply of diesel and the cleaning of TAZAMA Pipeline to Agro Fuels by the Ministry of Energy.
According to PACRA records, Agro-Fuel Investment Limited is owned and controlled by Shashikant Patel, a Zambian businessman of Indian origin, along with two other minority shareholders namely Juzer Mustakali Sadikot and Ajay Patel.
Well-placed political sources tell News Diggers that Patel is among ‘important’ businessmen who contributed funding to the ruling UPND during campaigns ahead of the 2021 general elections, and that he has a close relationship with energy minister Kapala.
Recently, when the government passed a Statutory Instrument to change the usage of the TAZAMA Pipeline from transporting crude oil to finished petroleum products, the Ministry of Energy allegedly single sourced Patel’s company, Agro-Fuel, to clean up the pipeline in preparation for open access usage by all government-contracted fuel suppliers.
After the cleanup exercise, however, Agro-Fuel took over the government-owned pipeline for exclusive usage to supply low sulfur diesel, disadvantaging other oil marketing companies that are transporting the commodity by road.
On October 12, Energy Regulation Board Chairperson Reynolds Bowa confirmed to News Diggers that there was no competition among OMCs on the usage of the TAZAMA pipeline as earlier envisaged by the government because only one company was using…
Credit : Newsdiggers
