The Pipeline Heist: Inside the Sh42bn KPC Share Scandal Rattling State House

 A bitter financial war between President William Ruto and Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro over a controversial Ksh42 billion share transaction in the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) has exposed deep fractures within the ruling establishment, with critics accusing State House of using public distraction tactics to cover up executive involvement in the sell-off.

Speaking during a tour in Kitui, President Ruto fired back at Nyoro’s allegations, accusing “share shylocks and brokers” of exploiting stock market mechanisms to con taxpayers comparing the KPC transaction to historical trading maneuvers seen in Kenya Power (KPLC) shares.

However, economic analysts and parliamentarians maintain that the President’s public outburst is a calculated cover-up designed to shift focus away from high-level state facilitation.

According to financial disclosures blown open by Nyoro, major public institutions including the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the Public Service Superannuation Scheme (PSSF) were pressured into taking up billions of KPC shares during its initial listing, only to sell a massive 24.76% stake (4.5 billion shares) at a loss to a private consortium linked to Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote.

“You cannot accuse market intermediaries of conning the public when it was executive directives that instructed state pension funds to buy high and dump low to a private buyer,” Nyoro charged in response. The lawmaker further alleged that the transaction is phase one of a broader takeover strategy to be executed through a forced rights issue that will dilute public and NSSF equity below 20%.

As scrutiny mounts over how Kenya’s most strategic energy infrastructure was transferred on the Nairobi Securities Exchange block platform, the exchange of insults between State House and parliamentary whistleblowers reveals a high-stakes game of political misdirection.

Whether the executive can convince Kenyans that it was protecting taxpayers or if the transaction will be remembered as an elaborate state-sponsored asset swap remains the defining financial crisis of the season.

Source: https://peopledaily.digital/business/ruto-to-ndindi-nyoro-we-wont-let-you-con-kenyans-over-kpc-shares-as-you-did-with-kplc

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