Gov’t forms probe team after fuel trucks loaded with water instead of petrol

The Ministry of Petroleum has constituted a team to investigate the circumstances under which adulterated fuel was given to dealers at the Kisumu Pipeline Company (KPC) depot on Tuesday.

This comes following news that the KPC depot in Kisumu on Tuesday recalled all fuel trucks after they were mistakenly loaded with water instead of petrol.

According to Petroleum Cabinet Secretary John Munyes, the team is expected to submit its report within 14 days detailing what could have transpired.

Addressing the media after inspecting the oil jetty at the shores of Lake Victoria on Wednesday, CS Munyes said all those manning depots must follow the standard manual procedures to ensure safe products for Kenyans.

The CS also thanked the management of Kisumu depot for the quick intervention that led to the recall of 15 trucks which had been loaded with the adulterated fuel.

Munyes, while ruling out sabotage on the incident, said the detailed report from the probe team will point out a cause of action to avert any future occurrences.

“In a fortnight we will have a comprehensive report that will guide us in the next course of action which could be a disciplinary action. We want to safeguard our product, maybe there was some small laxity. I want to rule out sabotage; there was no sabotage here,” said Munyes.

He added that the ministry is keen to ensure fuel products are safe to safeguard the image of the country, further stating that all depots are now alert following the Kisumu incident.

Speaking after the mishap on Tuesday, Depot Manager Eng. Herman Amunga said the recalled trucks had not offloaded in their destinations when the error was detected.