The Judiciary was on Friday put on the spot by the Petroleum Institute of East Africa (PIEA) over a past case involving owners of the controversial Embakasi gas plant that killed two and left over 280 injured.
The body in charge of the oil and gas industry in East Africa criticised a Nairobi court for offering the owners of the gas plant a lenient ruling despite being found guilty of running the site illegally.
According to PIEA, in 2020 a criminal case was filed against the facility owner alongside some of his clients under criminal case number E3776/2020 at Milimani Law Courts.
"All the accused persons were found guilty and convicted with a sentence issued on May 18, 2023," read part of a statement by PIEA.
PIEA claimed that the court disregarded an initial ruling which gave the plant holders a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years or a penalty of Ksh20 million.
"The learned Magistrate of Court Number 11 imposed total fines of Ksh500,000 or one-year imprisonment instead of Ksh20 million or 5 years for the proprietor (first accused)," noted the East African petroleum body.
It further accused the magistrate of issuing a lenient ruling to their accomplice. The magistrate was said to have fined the accomplice Ksh50,000 instead of Ksh10 million or a 5-year jail term.
According to PIEA, the magistrate even after issuing moderate penalties, continued to release all vehicles including two Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) tankers together with the confiscated bulk with a net weight of 4,660 kgs despite the law providing for mandatory forfeiture.
An LPG tanker, which had been released by the court according to procedure was reportedly involved in the Embakasi tragic incident.
It was further noted that the illegal gas plant had also been demolished twice on grounds of carrying out illicit refilling of cylinders belonging to other licensed brand owners.
"Despite the above actions and convictions, the proprietor continued operating the illegal storage and refilling facility without even the bare minimum safety standards," PIEA stated in its statement.
"We wish to inform the public that the LPG storage and refilling plants of the Petroleum Institute of East Africa (PIEA) members' facilities remain safe as great care is taken to ensure adherence to high safety standards as stipulated within LN 100.
