Two oil marketers received Sh80 million Itare dam cash : The Standard

Directorate of Criminal Investigations has traced Sh80 million meant for the construction of Itare dam to two managers working in the oil and petroleum industry. According to the DCI, Felix Murithi Kamwibua and Emilias Wambugu Sambu, both in their late 30s, were directors of Toplivo Limited. They received the money from the accounts of the troubled Italian contractor, CMC Di Ravenna, in August 2019, according to records held by the DCI. Toplivo Limited was registered on November 1, 2016, almost two years after tendering for the construction of the Itare dam was done in 2014 and the Italian firm awarded the contract. A search at the Registrar of Companies has revealed that Kamwibua and Sambu are listed as directors and shareholders of the company.

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The two have at one point worked together at the Gulf Energy, according to details published on their professional pages on LinkedIn. An online search of Toplivo showed the company was involved in the oil and petroleum business. It is among the companies registered with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to transport petroleum products by road. Kamwibua, on his LinkedIn page, says he works for Gulf Energy Kenya as a lubricants sales officer.

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He describes himself as, “a versatile, analytical and positively aggressive professional with hands-on experience. “Results-driven with a highly successful background in the achievement of profitable business growth through the creation and execution of successful sales and marketing strategies.

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“A dependable character and respected manager with integrity, commitment, loyalty and personal responsibility as key values.” On the other hand, Sambu, according to his Facebook profile, says he worked as a sales manager at Ola Energy. A further check of his professional pages shows that at the moment, he works at the Gulf Energy as a sales manager in charge of commercial and industrial. Oryx Energies Kenya Limited, another company dealing in oil, also received Sh23 million from the accounts of the Italian firm. The monies were transferred from CMC Di Ravenna’s accounts at the Barclays Bank, Westlands branch. According to records at the Registrar of Companies, Oryx Energies has three foreigners as its directors; Agust Dominick Mrema, a Tanzanian, and French nationals Michael Hubert Alexander Demond and Herv Christophe Bovouvet.

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A foreign company based in South Africa is also listed as a shareholder of Oryx Energy, while Overseas Petroleum Holding Limited and Oryx Energies South Africa are listed as part of the companies that own shares of Oryx Energies Kenya. The South Africa-based Oryx Energies own 99 ordinary shares while Overseas Petroleum Holdings Limited owns one ordinary share. Oryx Energies Kenya has been in existence since March 27, 2003. The revelations of the beneficiaries come as the DCI prepares to record statements of at least 10 members of the Rift Valley Water Services Board over the tendering process for the dam whose construction has since collapsed. The board members will appear before the DCI Serious Crimes Unit investigators starting tomorrow. The DCI investigators, according to our sources, will then summon close to 300 individuals and companies that received the dam cash. Last week, the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and Naivas Supermarket, who also received the cash, said they were not involved in the construction of the dam.

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Naivas Supermarket, according to documents, received Sh700,000 while Sh8.3 milliom was paid to NHIF whose Chief Executive Officer Nicodemus Odongo said he could not confirm or deny that his organisation had received the dam money. “What I know is that we are not in any way involved in dam construction,” Odongo said. Naivas CEO David Mukuha said he was not in a position to confirm if the supermarket had received any money from the troubled firm.

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Related Topics

Directorate of Criminal InvestigationsCMC Di RavennaDCIItare dam