Kiharu Member of Parliament Ndindi Nyoro has leveled explosive allegations against President William Ruto, claiming the Head of State is utilizing private entities and proxies to acquire a majority controlling stake in the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC).
The lawmaker’s claims follow a massive transfer on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) block trading platform on October 19, where state-owned entities offloaded 4.5 billion KPC shares, equating to a 24.76% stake valued at approximately Ksh.42 billion, to an anonymous private investor.
KPC was officially listed on the NSE on March 9 after its Initial Public Offering (IPO) ran from January 19 to February 24. However, less than eight months post-listing, this sudden shift in equity has ignited intense public scrutiny and political debate.
Alleged Pressure on Public Pension Funds
According to Nyoro, President Ruto directly intervened by calling chief executive officers of state agencies, including the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the Public Service Superannuation Scheme (PSSF), instructing them to purchase KPC shares during the IPO despite receiving contrary advice from their own financial experts.
Nyoro further alleged that the president subsequently contacted the CEOs again, directing them to offload those shares to a “private investor” at a loss to the public funds.
“The exit price was between Ksh.9.02 and Ksh.9.36. The shares were sold cum dividend so that the “private investor” maximizes benefits,” Nyoro asserted in a statement.
The Kiharu legislator argued that the transaction severely compromised public pension funds to benefit private interests.
“The so-called private investor is a company that President Ruto has private interests in. He is among the ‘Private Foreign Investors,'” Nyoro claimed.
“In other words, he took a soft loan from your pensions; you made a loss, but he is making money from it.”
He added that the bank handling the transaction has ties to the president.
Links to the Dangote Lamu Refinery Project
Nyoro projects that the massive share transaction forms part of a broader strategy tied to President Ruto’s commercial interest in the recently launched Dangote East Africa Petroleum Refinery in Lamu. He contends that acquiring control over midstream distribution assets like KPC aligns with expanding private interests across the regional petroleum supply chain.
The MP’s allegations came just a day after President Ruto publicly defended the share transfer during the Mashujaa Day celebrations in Eldoret. Addressing the nation, the president framed the transaction as a vital move to mobilize private capital for national infrastructure projects, without disclosing the identity of the private entity involved.
“Just yesterday, in a demonstration of confidence in our growing capital markets, private investors acquired a 25 percent stake in Kenya Pipeline from public entities, marking another step in mobilizing private capital for strategic infrastructure,” President Ruto said.
Despite executives’ assurances that the deal will strengthen investor confidence and provide strategic funding, opposition figures and other critics are still calling for full disclosure of who ultimately owns the Ksh42 billion buyout.
Meanwhile, Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has confirmed that he bought the 24.76 percent stake in Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) for about Sh42.5 billion ($327 million). The investment gives him a share in the infrastructure that transports fuel across Kenya and to neighbouring countries.
Dangote announced the purchase at an event in London on Wednesday but did not say which company in his business group acquired the stake.
“We bought 25 per cent of their pipeline network for the distribution of petroleum products,” Dangote said, according to Bloomberg.
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