Businesswoman Linked to Sh17 Billion Oil Presented in Mombasa Court
A businesswoman at the center of a Sh17 billion oil shipment has been arraigned before a Mombasa court.
Anne Njoroge was on Tuesday arraigned after her lawyer Cliff Ombeta alleged that she had been missing for two days.
Dressed in a yellow and black floral dress, and donning a white hijab, she walked into a Mombasa High Court on Tuesday where she waiting for the mention of a case she had earlier filed on November 8.
The court had ordered authorities not to offload her diesel. But the diesel has since been offloaded and the ship in question left the Mombasa port.
Read: KPA Denies Missing Businesswoman Anne Njoroge Owns Sh17 Billion Oil
Ms Njoroge has claimed ownership of some 100,000 metric tons of diesel that have also been claimed by two other companies: Galana Energies Limited and Ramco.
According to Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), MT Haigui loaded her cargo of 93,460 metric tons of gasoil between September 20 and September 28 at Yanbui-Samref port.
KPA board chair Benjamin Tayari said that MT Haigui then sailed for Jeddah anchorage for cargo dopping and sampling.
On September 30, Mt Haugui left Jeddah for Mombasa.
“Out of the manifested 93,460 metric tonnes of gasoil, 49, 091 was destined to Kenya with the shipper being Aramco Trading Fujairah as nominated by the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum. The remainder being 44,3687 metric tonnes was transit cargo for neighbouring counties including Uganda, South Sudan and the DRC,” he said on Monday.
Tayari noted that an alleged authentic Bill of Lading belonging to Ms Njoroge, who has asserted that she is the consignee and shipper of all the cargo, and that it was loaded on October 9, 2023, at Jeddah Islamic Port in Saudi Arabia.
“The voyage duration from Jeddah to Mombasa was 10 days and therefore it is impracticable for the vessel to have been loaded in Jeddah on October 9, 2023 yet she arrived in Mombasa on October 11, 2023,” he added.
KPA stated that it, along with all other agencies concerned, must follow the current government-to-government agreements regarding fuel imports.
“Therefore, KPA counter checks a manifest submitted prior to a call to confirm that the International Oil Marketer (shipper) is duly appointed by the Ministry of Energy and that the consignees are licensed,” added Tayari.