Kenya, March 15 -- A new development has come up in the Ksh 1.7 billion edible oil scandal. It turns out that Members of Parliament secretly approved a controversial budget during a mini-budget meeting.

This has raised worries that important investigations may have stopped.

At the centre of this situation is Pamela Mutua, the former Managing Director of the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC). She, along with Juma Sikuku, the supply chain manager, has been charged with misusing public funds.

Many people are now asking if Mutua and Sikuku are being used as scapegoats, meaning they are taking the blame while more powerful people behind the scandal go unpunished.

Court proceedings have shown that certain suppliers, who are well-connected, lobbied the State House to speed up payments worth billions for deals that seem questionable.

These suppliers imported large amounts of edible oil and rice without paying duties, but they used their influence to get payment even though investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) were not making progress.

The duty-free import program started in January 2023 was meant to help reduce consumer prices during a time of rising costs.

Instead, it has turned into a major scam, with reports that some of the imported edible oil was of low quality and could not be sold.

President William Ruto had initially ordered investigations into the financial activities of government officials related to this scandal.

However, with the recent approval of Ksh 1.7 billion for KNTC, critics are worried that powerful people are trying to hide their involvement.

Many are questioning why Parliament would approve such a large payment while investigations are still ongoing.

The secretive process of awarding contracts to certain government-affiliated individuals has raised suspicions of corruption at high levels.

While Mutua and Sikuku are facing legal action, experts believe that other important people should also be held responsible.

The sudden budget approval makes people fear that the case may be quietly closed, protecting the true masterminds of the scandal while taxpayers have to pay the price.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Bana Kenya.