Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
Peter Kiragu
19 July 2011
Oil marketing company Oilibya says it has suspended any payment to the Libyan government. This, it said, follows sanctions issued by President Barack Obama blocking property and prohibiting certain transactions related to Libya. The US fear that money from Libyan investments oversees has been used to fund operations of Muammar Gaddafi who is currently under international pressure to surrender power.
Yesterday, Oilibya sought to distance itself from the besieged leader and said Libya Oil Kenya Ltd, the registered proprietors of Oilibya, is owned by the Libyan government and is not linked to any particular leader. “The company is owned by Libya Oil Kenya Holdings Limited and ultimately by the people of Libya not any individual(s) through a state company,” said a statement by the managing director Rida Hassan Elamir.
And though the company has not paid any dividends to its shareholders since it started operations in Kenya in 2006, the company said it would not be paying any cent to the Libyan government, even if it is to make profits, until the Libyan crisis is resolved. “Recently to comply with the sanctions, the company’s shareholders have given categorical instructions that all affiliates are to comply with all local and international regulations required of them and are not to remit any funds to the shareholder, Libya Oil Kenya Holdings Limited,” the statement read. “We have therefore complied with this position not to remit any sums including dividends and service fees to our shareholder during the current circumstances and we are in no way making available any funds or economic resources available to a designated person, entity or body under sanctions.”
The company however admitted that the onset of the Libyan crisis has had an impact on it operations. “Some of our business partners with international ownership have been required to temporarily suspend our relationship,” the statement said.
The statement further said Libya Oil Kenya Ltd is not listed in the schedules as one of the entities under any of the sanctions. “There has not been any decision of the UN Sanctions committee or the Government of Kenya to date in this regard which inhibits or hinders our operations,” it added.
Oilibya’s statement comes just a week after the Kenyan government said it will not sever its ties with Libya nor freeze assets belonging to the Libyan government as demanded by the US and the European Union.
Acting Foreign affairs minister George Saitoti said the position taken by the Western countries contradicts the stand of the African Union Ad-hoc Committee on Libya which has come up with a road map to solve the political crisis facing the oil rich country.
Saitoti said Kenya will only freeze the assets belonging to the Libyan government, if advised to do so by the African Union Commission on International Law.
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