Day: May 7, 2023

Kenya Pipeline Corporation (KPC) has rolled out operations at the Sh2 billion Kisumu oil jetty.

Completed in 2018, the facility which has been lying idle is set to ease transportation of petroleum products from the Kisumu KPC depot to Uganda by ship through Lake Victoria.

This follows the successful completion of docking and storage facilities at Bukasa in the neighbouring Uganda.

Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary (CS) Davis Chirchir said the facility will boost fuel trade by ensuring seamless evacuation of the products from the port of Mombasa to Uganda for onward transmission to South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

‘This is a great achievement for our economies in terms of building inter country trade within our region,’ he said.

The two vessels ferrying the products from Kisumu, he said have capacity of 4.5 million litres each adding that this will go a long way in addressing the numerous challenges encountered transporting the commodity by road.

‘The 4.5 million litres carried by one vessel is equivalent to 135 tracks. This is going to save time taken to transport the commodity,’ he said.

Other challenges among them accidents and cases of fuel adulteration associated with transportation of the commodity by road shall also be addressed.

The CS who led members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on energy on a tour of the facility said so far the facility has done five trips with 20 million litres shipped to Uganda since the jetty started operations early this year.

Currently, he said KPC was doing one trip per week adding that three more vessels were being sourced to increase the number of trips.

The Mahathi Fuel Transport and Storage facility in Bugiri, Uganda where the product is offloaded, he said has a capacity of 70 million litres adding that there was urgent need to increase the number of trips to fill the tank.

From the Mahathi facility, the fuel is loaded onto tracks for onward transmission of the products to South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and the DRC.

To make the facilities efficient, the speed of loading and offloading, he said has been improved for quick movement of the products.

Kenya, he disclosed was seeking partnership with Uganda to build a pipeline from the Mahathi facility to push the products further inland.

‘We are obligated to serve the landlocked countries and it is our obligation to provide state of the art services,’ said the CS.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The local Kipsigis community will benefit from the 15 percent shares at the vast multinational tea estates in Kericho County as James Finlay Kenya Limited exits its operation in the country.

Finlays, a tea-growing company that has produced tea for decades has sold the firm to Sri Lankan Browns Investment PLC following a strategic decision aimed at focusing more on the tea and coffee extract businesses and moving away from the leaf-growing operations in the country.

Addressing the press, the Kericho County Governor Dr. Eric Mutai revealed that after wide consultations with the outgoing and incoming investors, it was agreed that the local Kipsigis community will hold 15 percent shares of the multinational tea estate, which he said was a great move that would promote the welfare of the local community.

‘Browns Investment PLC and Finlays will be giving out 15 percent of the shares to the local community and this is a progressive step while the decision on who is going to hold the 15 percent will be decided by a working committee comprising of the executive, and the County Assembly that has been formed to deliberate on the issue for the next four to six months before the investor takes over the new industry’ added Dr. Mutai.

Also present was Finlay’s representative Ben Wolf who assured the James Finlay employees of their job security at the tea estates with the incoming management.

‘In deciding on the new investor, the main concern for us was to ensure the business was going to continue to be successful and supportive of all of our staff within James Finlay Kenya, and supportive of the local community.’ Said Wolf.

In a statement, the Finlays Group Managing Director, James Woodrow said a rigorous process was undertaken in identifying a buyer for the business prioritizing what was best for the company and community, and Sri Lankan Browns Investment PLC was selected to buy the huge tea estate.

The firm also stated that the Saosa tea extracts facility will remain a key part of Finlay’s global tea extracts infrastructure and operations will continue in Kericho and tea packing operations in Mombasa.

The multinational tea estates in Kericho County introduced mechanization in their farms culminating in massive job losses for casual tea harvesting workers a majority of whom were from the local community.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Kenya Pipeline Corporation (KPC) is set to take over the defunct state-owned Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited (KPRL) to increase its storage capacity and diversify operations.

Energy Cabinet Secretary (CS)Davies Chirchir said negotiations with the National Treasury for the takeover were at an advanced stage.

‘We have engaged the National Treasury and plans are on course to fastrack this initiative,’ he said.

The CS said once the deal is finalized, KPC will take over all KPRL assets at the port of Mombasa to enhance its storage capacity and build additional facilities for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).

KPRL which was originally set up by Shell and British Petroleum Company (BP) has 45 tanks with a total storage capacity of 484 million litres.

This additional storage, the CS said would unlock supply chain bottlenecks in Mombasa and ensure steady supply of the commodity in the country and neighbouring countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

‘We are talking about banking three months’ supply which is about 200 million litres. Therefore, the assets we have at KPRL will come in handy,’ he said.

Speaking in Kisumu during a tour of KPC facilities in the area, the CS said the move was set to address the shortage of the commodity and ensure constant supply across the country and region.

Following President William Ruto’s directive to scale up LPG coverage in the country, the CS said part of the land owned by KPRL will be used to build additional storage tanks for LPG.

The ministry of energy, he added has put in place measures to ensure the LPG project is delivered on time for Kenyans to have access to clean cooking energy.

‘Over the next two years you are going to see accelerated development of LPG as directed by the president,’ he said.

KPRL which was set up to refine crude oil stopped operations in 2013 after the government started importing refined oil.

The government acquired the facility after Essar, an Indian fine failed to revive it.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The State Department of Industry will construct a cotton ginnery in West Ugenya, Siaya county, Principal Secretary Mr. Juma Mukhwana has said.

Mukhwana said that once the ginnery is established at Bar Anyali in Masat East Sub Location, the ministry will also establish related industries to process cotton by-products such as animal feeds and oil.

He was speaking at Bar Anyali grounds when he presided over the distribution of cotton seeds worth Sh14 million to farmers from Ugenya constituency. The PS was flanked by Siaya governor, James Orengo and area member of parliament, David Ochieng.

Mukhwana said that the government was committed to improving the lives of its citizens and urged local residents to embrace cotton farming.

He said that those who venture into cotton farming will be provided with free seeds and pesticides, adding that there was a ready market for the crop.

Mukhwana said that the ministry of industry has more than doubled the money set aside for purchase of seeds for distribution to farmers from the current Sh200 million to Sh500 million in the next budget hence assuring the farmers that seeds will not be a problem.

Addressing the occasion, Siaya governor, James Orengo expressed the commitment of his government to support cotton farming, saying that the county must have at least one cash crop.

Orengo however said that the locals will have to embrace modern farming to realize positive results of agribusiness.

‘There is no future in modern economy if we will continue using traditional forms of agriculture. We must modernize and use certified seeds, fertilizer and prober agricultural husbandry,’ said governor Orengo.

Ugenya Member of Parliament, David Ochieng thanked the government for accepting to put up a ginnery in his constituency, adding that this was proof that the current regime means well for the whole country.

Ochieng urged Ugenya residents to go back to cotton farming adding that this will enable them to improve their socio-economic status.

Source: Kenya News Agency