Stabex has been awarded a sudden and highly competitive tender to supply jet fuel at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). This comes just days after a fuel supply disruption temporarily halted operations at Kenya’s busiest airport on September 26.
The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) swiftly rectified the disruption, blamed it on a technical hitch, and assured the public that normal operations resumed shortly after that. “The issue has been rectified, and normal airport operations have now resumed,” KAA said in a statement, apologizing to passengers and airlines affected by the brief chaos.
Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi also downplayed the severity of the situation, denying widespread reports of a jet fuel shortage. “The reports of a shortage were exaggerated,” Wandayi stated. “It was a brief technical issue, not a fuel supply crisis.”
However, the abrupt awarding of the tender to Stabex(just a week after this disruption) has raised eyebrows across the nation. Allegations have surfaced that the company is owned by President William Ruto, leading many Kenyans to view the deal as politically motivated. On social media, conversations are dominated by questions of whether the fuel shortage was staged to justify awarding the contract to Stabex in what some see as a carefully orchestrated political maneuver.
“A mere coincidence?” A citizen has noted online. “Corruption should be declared as a national disaster.” These concerns are amplified by the contradictions in the official narrative. While Wandayi assured Kenyans that there was no nationwide shortage of jet fuel, the rapid procurement of a new supplier suggests otherwise. Was the situation more severe than disclosed, or was this an example of political influence at play?
Adding further complexity is the backdrop of rising jet fuel demand in Kenya. Official data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) reveals that airlines purchased 661,100 tonnes of fuel in 2023, an 11% increase from the previous year. The aviation sector is seeing its highest growth in demand since the pandemic, putting pressure on fuel suppliers to keep up with Kenya’s expanding air travel industry.
What remains to be seen is whether Stabex can meet the increased fuel demands efficiently,or if this swift, controversial contract award will continue to fuel public skepticism.
