KPA in the spotlight as investigations centre on 60,000 tonnes fuel shipment

MT Paloma’s current position as shown by ships tracking portal Vessel Finder. IMAGE/UGC.

By PATRICK MAYOYO

pmayoyo@eyewitness.africa

The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and its harbour master are facing intense scrutiny after it emerged that a vessel carrying 60,000 metric tonnes of fuel at the heart of a growing corruption probe was granted preferential exemptions to dock at Mombasa Port.

This fuel shipment is a key focus of an investigation by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) into a multi-billion-shilling saga involving allegations of the importation of substandard fuel.

The ship at the centre of the investigation, the MT Paloma, arrived at Mombasa on March 27, 2026, and was permitted to discharge its cargo despite not meeting standard International Maritime Organisation (IMO) requirements.

Those close to the investigation told Africa Eco News, that the MT Paloma was allowed to berth at Kipevu Oil Terminal (KOT) without first submitting a mandatory cargo manifest, a vital requirement for ensuring the safety and legality of the goods being offloaded.

Under normal circumstances, the cargo manifest would detail all the goods being carried on the vessel, including their type, weight, volume, origin, and destination, along with the identities of the shipper and consignee.

Without this vital documentation, authorities at Mombasa Port were effectively in the dark about what the MT Paloma was carrying, where it had come from, and who was responsible for the goods. This breach in protocol has raised serious concerns about the regulatory oversight of shipping operations at the port.

“It’s highly irregular for a vessel to be allowed to berth without first submitting a cargo manifest. This raises questions about who authorised the exemption and why,” a maritime expert familiar with the investigation said.

The MT Paloma, whose agents were Sturrock Shipping Company, had made a special request to KPA, asking for permission to berth without submitting the required cargo manifest.

According to information seen by Africa Eco News, a senior official at Sturrock Shipping explained that the manifest was still being prepared and would be completed later that afternoon. The shipping company requested that the vessel be allowed to dock immediately to avoid any operational delays.

The request from Sturrock Shipping, dated March 27, 2026, read in part: “We kindly request your approval to berth the vessel this afternoon. The manifest preparation is currently in progress and is expected to be finalised later this afternoon. We will ensure that the completed manifest is submitted promptly upon finalisation. In view of the above, we would greatly appreciate your consideration to allow berthing in the interim to avoid any operational delays.”

In response to the request, KPA authorised the vessel to dock. A follow-up internal email, stated: “In view of yesterday’s VSM and bearing in mind that this is a contingency cargo to keep the country WET under the current circumstances, your request is approved. Manager PMU Southern Region will follow up to ensure all other procedures are carried out as per the law.”

The decision to grant this exemption has become a key point of contention in the ongoing investigations. It appears that KPA, in concert with Sturrock Shipping, allowed the MT Paloma to bypass standard safety checks and regulatory protocols.

Petroleum Principal Secretary Mohamed Liban, EPRA Director General Daniel Kiptoo and KPC Managing Director Joe Sang have resigned amid investigations into the alleged importation of substandard fuel. PHOTO/UGC.

The omission of the cargo manifest meant that neither KPA nor other relevant government agencies were able to establish where the ship had come from, the importer and the type of cargo it was carrying creating a potential security risk.

In addition to the issue of the cargo manifest, investigators have also turned their attention to the disappearing records of ships calling at Mombasa Port.

A search on KPA’s 14-day list of ships calling at Mombasa port, shows that the archived records are missing which normally includes crucial details about ships that called at the port, the type and quantity of cargo on board. Reports indicate that these has been altered in recent months to remove such information.

This change has led to fears that senior officials at KPA and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) may have deliberately concealed vital information relating to the cargo being offloaded at Mombasa Port.

“It’s a standard procedure for ports around the world to maintain a detailed record of the cargo being transported by vessels,” a ship agent who requested anonymity said. “But in Mombasa, that system has been changed. Now, the details of what ships are carrying are not being disclosed, making it more difficult to track what is entering the country.”

The issue of transparency has only been further complicated by the involvement of high-ranking government officials in the saga. In late March, as global oil markets faced disruptions due to the ongoing US-Israel and Iran war, then-Petroleum Principal Secretary Mohamed Liban requested temporary exemptions from the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) to bypass certain fuel quality control measures.

Liban’s request, which was made in a letter dated March 26, 2026, to KEBS Managing Director Esther Ngari, sought waivers for three key quality assurance procedures governing the importation of fuel into Kenya.

Liban justified the request by citing international supply chain disruptions caused by the ongoing instability in the Gulf region, particularly the Strait of Hormuz, which had led to the rerouting of vessels and ship-to-ship transfers at sea. This, he argued, had disrupted the usual processes for verifying the quality and source of the fuel.

Liban’s  letter proposed that fuel inspection, which is typically done at the port of origin, should instead be carried out at the port of discharge in Mombasa. This effectively moved the responsibility for quality verification from the source to the destination, raising concerns about the effectiveness of quality control once the fuel had already reached Kenya.

Under normal circumstances, importers of substandard fuel face financial penalties of up to 5% of the cargo’s CIF (cost, insurance, and freight) value, or a maximum of USD 3,500. Liban’s request sought to suspend these penalties, effectively removing a key deterrent against the importation of substandard fuel.

The letter also sought to grant KEBS discretionary authority to waive specific quality parameters on a case-by-case basis. This would have introduced significant flexibility into the fuel quality assurance system, allowing for exceptions to be made depending on the circumstances.

While Liban’s request was framed as a necessary response to the global supply chain disruptions, critics argue that the waivers created an environment in which substandard fuel could more easily be imported into Kenya.

The absence of pre-export verification meant that shipments could now bypass standard checks that establish where the goods originated, and the financial penalties and discretionary quality waivers further reduced the incentives for importers to ensure compliance with fuel quality standards.

MT Paloma. PHOTO/STAN LAUNDON/Vessel Finder.

The consequences of these decisions began to unfold at Mombasa Port, where shipments of fuel that would have previously been rejected were now allowed to discharge.

Without mandatory pre-export verification, it was impossible to know whether the fuel came from and if it met the required quality standards until it had already arrived in Kenya. Testing at the port could identify non-compliance, but by then, the fuel had already entered the supply chain, limiting the options for rejection or re-export.

Simultaneously, the suspension of financial penalties meant that importers faced a reduced economic risk for bringing in substandard fuel. This, combined with the discretionary powers granted to KEBS, created a system where fuel quality standards were no longer rigid, but negotiable.

At the port, discharge operations continued with little apparent disruption. Tankers docked, fuel was offloaded, and storage tanks filled, all seemingly routine. Yet beneath the surface, the regulatory framework governing fuel imports had been quietly altered, with potentially disastrous consequences for the country’s fuel supply chain.

The implications of these changes became clearer as concerns began to surface about the quality of fuel being distributed across Kenya. Reports of poor fuel quality, engine performance issues, and rising consumer complaints all pointed to the possibility that substandard fuel had entered the market as a result of these weakened safeguards.

As the investigation continues, authorities are focusing on how these temporary exemptions were granted and whether they were part of a wider effort to facilitate the importation of low-quality fuel. Investigators are also looking into the roles played by senior officials at KPA, KEBS, and KRA, as well as the possibility of collusion among top government officials.

The MT Paloma, a Marshall Islands-flagged petroleum tanker, left Mombasa on March 30, 2026, and is now at Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Marine tracking data shows the vessel is currently transiting the Mozambique Channel, with an expected arrival at its South African destination on April 7, 2026. Before its arrival in Mombasa, the ship had been en route to Angola but was diverted under unclear circumstances.

While the MT Paloma, is no longer in Kenyan waters, the investigation is far from over. Authorities are closely monitoring the vessel’s movements, and further revelations are expected in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, Kenya’s fuel supply chain remains in the spotlight, with questions about the quality of the fuel being imported and whether the safeguards in place to protect consumers have been fatally weakened.

As the probe unfolds, it seems likely that more details will emerge, exposing how regulatory systems were bypassed and raising questions about the integrity of the fuel supply chain in Kenya.