Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) announced the appointment of its former Chief Executive Joe Sang as the new interim managing director of the cash-rich state corporation on Tuesday, January 17, 2023, only weeks after being cleared of suspected corruption charges last month.
His appointment takes effect immediately, making room for the exit of Dr. Macharia Irungu, who assumed office in 2020 when Mr. Hudson Andambi left.
Andambi took over as acting managing director in December 2018, following the arrest and prosecution of the firm’s top executives.
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Sang and other KPC senior administrators were detained on December 7, 2018, and charged with carrying out the Kisumu oil jetty project, which resulted in a purported loss to taxpayers of KSh1.9 billion.
He was charged alongside former KPC corporate secretary Gloria Khafafa, supply chain manager Vincent Cheruiyot, infrastructure manager Billy Asaka, procurement manager Nicholas Gitobu, and general manager of finance Samuel Odoyo.
They were accused of abusing their positions of authority, beginning a project without proper planning, and purposefully disobeying rules governing the handling of public funds when constructing the Kisumu oil jetty.
Key projects completed during his tenure in office include; Line 5, the Mombasa-Nairobi pipeline, which was at 11 percent when he took charge.
Read: Kenya Pipeline Operations Suffer Understaffing – KPOWU
Among other projects, was the completion of Line 6, a 122-kilometer pipeline from Sinendent to Kisumu, improved product delivery in Kisumu, and constructed new storage tanks in Nairobi, a bottom loading facility in Eldoret, and automated actuators and key meters.
During this time, the company also planned for the construction of the center’s infrastructure and developed and finalized the curriculum for the Morendat Centre of Excellence for Oil and Gas Pipelines.
This campaign pushed the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) for the synchronization of loading and clearing hours at KPC facilities in an effort to reclaim lost export markets.
Joe Sang has an MBA from the University of Nairobi, is a CPA (K), and has extensive experience in international governance and leadership, among other things, in the energy sector.
He has formerly worked for KPC, East African Breweries Plc (EABL), Unga Group, National Oil, and East African Breweries Plc.
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