Lobby moves to court over alleged contaminated fuel

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 17 – The Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK) has moved to court over claims that fuel circulating in the country contains harmful chemical compounds linked to the fuel marking system.

In a statement, COFEK said independent laboratory tests conducted in the United States detected carcinogenic halogenated compounds in fuel samples associated with the marking programme run by Swiss firm SICPA SA.

The lobby claims the same compounds were found in fuel distributed within the Kenyan market, raising concerns about potential public health risks. It added that unmarked fuel samples did not show similar contamination, pointing to a possible link with the marking process.

COFEK said it will file a case seeking to bar SICPA and inspection firm SGS from operating in Kenya’s fuel sector, citing alleged anti-competitive practices and risks to consumers.

The group is also pursuing a private criminal prosecution against five individuals it claims were involved in the matter, including former senior officials in the energy sector.

At the same time, COFEK has called on the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) to suspend the fuel marking programme, recall affected fuel, and conduct independent verification of all chemical markers used.

The claims come amid heightened scrutiny of Kenya’s fuel supply chain following recent concerns over quality and pricing, though regulators have yet to publicly confirm the allegations.

EPRA has not issued a response to the claims at the time of publication.