Kenya National Trading Corporation Limited (KNTC) Managing Director Pamela Mutua has vacated her position.
Mutua is one of the civil servants whose jobs were advertised by the Public Service Commission (PSC) this week, bringing her three-year stint at the helm of the strategic government institution to an end.
Her exit comes amid investigations into the agency after a Ksh16 billion edible oil scandal rocked the government institution in 2023. In the scandal, senior government officials, through proxies, are reported to have benefitted from the shady deal at the expense of the taxpayer.
Despite being linked to the scandal, Mutua was praised by President William Ruto in April 2023 for ostensibly exposing corrupt government officials who were fleecing the government by inflating the cost of commodities in the middle of a food crisis.
While delivering his remarks, President William Ruto revealed that Mutua had brought to his attention that the corrupt government officials had inflated the quoted price for the supply of a bag of rice from Ksh5,000 to Ksh7,300.
"We have some bad people sitting a certain Ministry of Public Works in the Department of Materials Supplies who were busy increasing the prices of commodities in the middle of the food crisis," Ruto remarked at the time.
KNTC is also seeking to replace the General Manager, Purchasing and Sales, Warehousing Manager, Finance and Treasury Manager, and Business Development Manager.
As outlined in the PSC notice, persons interested in the positions have been advised to apply before February 12, 2024.
"Only successful candidates shall be contacted for interviews and canvassing will lead to automatic disqualification," read part of the notice.
Edible Oil Scandal
The multi-billion scandal exposed top government officials from KNTC and bank officials who fraudulently imported edible oils.
The fraudulent deal was hatched during former Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria's tenure. After the scandal was exposed by a local media house, Kuria came out all guns blazing, defending the deal, in a foul-mouthed rant, maintaining that the transaction was above board.
Kuria, by virtue of his position as Cabinet Secretary, was the final authority and gave a thumbs up for the deal to go through.
Reportedly, the companies which won the tender to import the oil had links with people in the government and were single-sourced.
Initially, reports surfaced that the oil was unfit for human consumption. However, KEBS would later put out a statement disputing this position, assuring that the product was safe.
"The sampled edible oils did not meet the Vitamin A levels specified in the Kenyan Standard. This is not a health and safety parameter," KEBS stated.
