Cyrus Jirongo exposed middlemen in G-to-G oil deal; Museveni reveals
Cyrus Jirongo exposed middlemen in G-to-G oil deal; Museveni reveals
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has named the late Cyrus Jirongo as the whistleblower who exposed the irregularities in East Africa’s Government-to-Government (G-to-G) oil importation deal.
According to Museveni, the late Jirongo, a former minister under President Moi’s government, told him about the backdoor oil dealings in 2019.
“It was a Kenyan Senator called Jirongo who told me this around 2019. I immediately tasked the then Minister Irene Muloni to sort out that mess,” said the Ugandan leader in a tweet on Sunday evening.
The revelations followed Museveni’s exposé on Thursday, in which he said Uganda had previously procured petroleum products through intermediaries in Kenya, rather than directly from the government as outlined in the G-to-G framework.
“The Republic of Uganda was buying petroleum products through middlemen in Kenya. Can you imagine that? And the person who woke me up first was a senator from Kenya,” Museveni said during the groundbreaking ceremony for a 320-million-litre petroleum storage terminal in Mpigi District, Uganda.
Museveni has since attributed the expose to the late Jirongo, who was not a senator in Kenya but had previously served as Minister for Rural Development under Moi’s government in 2002. He also served as Member of Parliament for Lugari Constituency in 2007 – 2013 before unsuccessfully contesting a Senate position in 2013.
Museveni said the revelation prompted him to end the G-to-G arrangement with Kenya, and begin sourcing bulk petroleum products directly.
The Ugandan president further criticised his government officials for failing to identify what he described as an unnecessarily costly procurement arrangement.
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However, he accused the Kenyan media of misrepresenting his statement made in Mpigi District.
“In the meantime, some Kenya Media People decided, recently, to put pilipili (red pepper) in what I said recently when I was laying the Foundation stone of the 320 million litres oil storage centre at Buyala,” he said.
Museveni’s recent outburst has since sparked a response from Kenya.
The Ministry of Energy, in a statement on Sunday, dismissed allegations of irregularities in the importation and supply of refined petroleum products under the Government-to-Government arrangement.
Instead, Energy CS Opiyo Wandayi said Kenya brokered an importation deal with private companies in 2023 to alleviate liquidity challenges occasioned by dollar scarcity.
The deal, he said, involved Aramco Trading Fujairah FZE (Aramco), Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) Global Trading Ltd and Emirates National Oil Company (Singapore) Private Limited (ENOC), which were tasked to supply refined petroleum products on extended credit terms of 180 days.
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