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Kenya to lose cheap oil deal over arms scandal

Written by CEDRIC LUMITI

Sunday, 19 October 2008

NAIROBI, KENYA––Kenya could lose out on the cheap oil importation deal signed a few months ago following the diplomatic rift in regard to the hijacked arms ship allegedly destined for Southern Sudan.

In August, Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula and his Sudanese counterpart Deng Alor Kuol signed the deal that could be headed for a snag following the arms saga in which Kenya is mentioned in bad light.

Under the pact, the government owned Kenya National Oil Corporation and Sudan Petroleum Corporation were to sign another agreement on how to implement the deal. Kenya will be a third Sudan neighbour to benefit from such arrangement if the agreement is fully implemented, the Embassy said.

The signing of the MoU between the two states followed a recent settlement of a dispute between North and South Sudan over the control of the oil rich Abyei region.

The controversy ridden MV Faina carrying heavy military hardware which the Kenyan government has claimed ownership of, has sparked off a diplomatic feud between Kenya and the Khartoum government which claims Kenya is aiding military acquisition for its southern Sudan rival which threatens the peace deal signed between the north and the south.

According to an MOU between Kenya and Sudan, the 500,000 metric tones of oil was aimed at mitigating the ongoing oil crisis in the country.

Well placed sources within Khartoum said an intended visit by the Sudanese energy minister had been postponed indefinitely even as Kenya still reels under high oil prices which has surged inflation levels.

The visit by the Sudanese energy minister which was to happen mid last month and in which the oil deal could be completed was a follow up to one by Kenya's foreign affairs minister Moses Wetangula earlier on.

Sudan officials said though President Omar Al-Bashir has directed his subordinates to avail fuel to Kenya, the circumstances surrounding the arms seized by Somali pirates could sabotage the efforts.

Already Ethiopia and Eritrea which have been mentioned in the weapons saga enjoy terms of preference on Sudan fuel.

But the Sudanese energy minister has suspended his visit to Kenya which was scheduled for later this month due to controversy surrounding the hijacked Ukrainian ship, carrying more than 30 advanced tanks and immunities. The issue has sparked confusion as to where the military hardware was destined. Kenyan officials have insisted that the shipment is carrying Kenyan weapons.

Other sources including the US navy, BBC, and a Kenyan port official have all pointed that the end user is the government of South Sudan.

The Sudanese authorities have summoned the Kenyan envoy in Khartoum to protest on the Kenyan role on facilitating the piling of weapons to Southern Sudan. Intermediaries have conveyed the message to the Kenyan Minister of foreign affairs and told personalities close to him that this is the most embarrassing diplomatic situation Kenya has ever come through given its role in the mediation efforts between the two that ended two decades of bloodshed.

The upcoming IGAD conference which will be held in Nairobi towards the end of this month is expected to discuss peace and Sudan will once again top in the IGAD summit agenda.

It is evident that the issue of the hijacked weapons is poisoning the bilateral environment between the two countries.

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Last Updated ( Sunday, 19 October 2008 )

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