Kenya's disgraced oil chiefs resign after fuel scandal arrests

Three of Kenya's most senior energy officials have resigned following their arrest in connection with an alleged Sh8 billion fuel importation scheme.

The resignations were announced on April 4, 2026, through a presidential press release signed by Chief of Staff and Head of the Public Service Felix Koskey.

President William Ruto received the resignation of Petroleum Principal Secretary Mohamed Liban.

The boards of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) and Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) received the resignations of Director General Daniel Kiptoo Bargoria and Managing Director Joe Sang respectively.

Kiptoo Bargoria, born in Nairobi in 1984, came to EPRA from a legal career rooted in the energy sector.

He holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Nairobi, a Master of Laws in Petroleum Law and Policy from the University of Dundee, and an MBA in Energy and Sustainability from the University of Cumbria.

He is also a Harvard Senior Executive Fellow.

He was one of the principal drafters of both the Energy Act 2019 and the Petroleum Act 2019, the two pieces of legislation that shaped how Kenya regulates its power and fuel sectors today.

He stepped into the EPRA DG role in acting capacity in December 2020 after his predecessor Pavel Oimeke was interdicted by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission over bribery allegations.

He was confirmed as substantive Director General in June 2021.

In July 2022, President Ruto awarded him the Order of the Grand Warrior for his contribution to Kenya's energy sector.

He had also been credited with designing the government-to-government fuel procurement framework, the same arrangement investigators now allege he helped circumvent.

Sang's career at KPC is one of Kenya's most closely watched corporate comebacks.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and an MBA in Strategic Management, both from the University of Nairobi, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

He built his early career across several institutions: financial accountant at the National Oil Corporation of Kenya, management accountant at Unga Group, and eventually head of finance at East African Breweries.

He joined KPC as General Manager of Finance and Strategy before his first appointment as Managing Director in April 2016.

That first term ended abruptly in December 2018, when he was forced to resign and was later charged over alleged irregularities in the procurement of the Sh1.9 billion Kisumu oil jetty project.

A court acquitted him and his co-accused in December 2022, ruling that no public funds had been lost and that the project had been properly planned.

He returned to KPC as acting MD in January 2023 and was formally reappointed on a four-year contract in April 2023.

At the time of his arrest, he had been leading KPC's initial public offering, which aimed to list 65 per cent of the company's shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange in what was set to be Kenya's largest IPO since Safaricom's listing in 2008.

Of the three, Liban had the most unconventional path to a petroleum portfolio.

A health professional by training, he holds a Masters of Public Health and Epidemiology from Kenyatta University and various diplomas in ophthalmology from the Kenya Medical Training College and London University.

Before entering government in his current capacity, he served as a Deputy Chief Clinical Officer at the Ministry of Health, Regional Health Manager at the Kenya Red Cross Society, and Regional Elections Coordinator at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission between 2009 and 2017.

He was then appointed Chairman of the Ewaso Ng'iro North Development Authority in 2019, a position he held until President Ruto nominated him as Petroleum PS in December 2022.

The presidential statement confirmed that administrative action has also been initiated against Joseph Wafula, Deputy Director of Petroleum, and Joel Mburu, KPC Supply and Logistics Manager.

Investigations remain ongoing.