Why We Should Mourn About The Oil Export News

President Uhuru Kenyatta proudly announced that Kenya had joined the league of oil-exporting nations and that Kenyans needed to be happy.

According to Tullow Oil, and as quoted by the Head of State, in September, Kenya is set to export “her” first crude oil worth 1.3 billion shillings.

As Kenyans, we clapped, celebrated and felt proud but I think we should mourn instead. Call me an enemy of the state but it is a scam.

What Kenyans should know is that the export of crude oil from Kenya to other countries is not about “us” but “them.”

“We are now an oil exporter. Our first deal was concluded this afternoon with 200,000 barrels at a price of 12 million dollars,” President Uhuru Kenyatta announced amid cheers.

When President Uhuru Kenyatta says “we” he means “them”, those who were born with a silver plate and not “us” down here stinking and wallowing in abject poverty.

It is ironic that as a country, we are thinking of “exporting” crude oil to other countries only to import finished petroleum products from other countries.

If our government had anyone with an iota of a reasonable brain, they would be thinking about resurrecting the collapsed and closed Changamwe Oil Refinery so that we can refine “our” own crude oil.

Changamwe Oil Refinery was the largest refinery in both East and Central Africa but it was run down and has never seen the light of day ever since.

Ever since the collapse of Changamwe Oil Refinery, Kenya has been importing finished petroleum products, leading to an increase in fuel prices across the country.

Kenya is thinking of exporting crude oil when the demand for fuel in the country is higher than the current supply.

Why can’t we resurrect our collapsed refinery so that we can refine our own oil and sell it locally? Who is behind the push to export crude oil? Who is going to be the beneficiary?

Also Read:

• KRA To Up Tax On Prices of Cigarettes, Beer and Fuel
• Kenya to export first crude oil barrels worth Ksh 1.3B by September

Stats show that Kenyans spend at least 300 billion shillings on fuel and fuel products annually. The fuel we are about to export will fetch less than 30 billion shillings. Why can’t the people in government, for once use their heads?

The details about the export of the fuel are still scanty. It is not clear what the agreement between Tullow Oil and the government is. It seems the export is only going to benefit Tullow with Kenya only going home with “the pride of being an exporter.”

“200,000 barrels of oil have been safely delivered to Mombasa. Tullow expects East Africa’s first export cargo of oil to be sold and lifted in the third quarter of 2019,” Tullow latest updates revealed. The oil definitely belongs to Tullow.