Parliament has ordered the Auditor General to carry out a full audit of the National Oil Corporation of Kenya, saying the agency is now technically insolvent.
Lawmakers raised serious concerns about how the corporation is being run, pointing out rising debts, lack of transparency, and poor financial management. MPs were especially concerned about the Sh3 billion deal between NOCK and Rubis Energy Kenya, questioning whether the agreement was legal and if it was properly approved.
David Pkosing, who chairs the National Assembly Public Investments Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy, warned that the corporation is collapsing.
He said NOCK can no longer pay its staff or run its operations smoothly, describing it as a dead agency. According to him, the audit is needed urgently to save the state oil firm before it’s too late.
The Auditor General has been asked to investigate the deal with Rubis, find out how the partnership was formed, and determine if the money injected by Rubis was a loan and whether it was backed by the National Treasury.
The audit report is expected to be tabled in Parliament by August 14, 2025. Meanwhile, the committee disclosed that NOCK is struggling under a heavy debt burden of Sh7.4 billion.
KCB Bank is demanding Sh3.4 billion while Stanbic Bank is owed Sh2.9 billion. On top of that, the company is failing to pay basic bills like staff salaries and maintenance for its fuel stations.
This has raised further fears about whether the company can continue operating at all.Documents seen by the committee show that NOCK has also leased out most of its retail infrastructure to third-party companies. MPs questioned how an agency that was once meant to safeguard Kenya’s energy security has ended up in this state.
NOCK was created in 1981 to represent government interests in the oil sector, but the current state of affairs shows it is far from meeting that goal.
The audit will dig deeper into the Rubis Energy deal, checking whether it is actually a loan, the terms involved, any government guarantees, and the risks to taxpayers.
It will also look at how this deal affects NOCK’s existing contracts with other retailers. Parliament has called for the agreement between NOCK and Rubis to be suspended for at least a month as the special audit continues.
Pkosing insisted that they need to find out whether the Rubis deal was truly in NOCK’s best interest or just another quick fix that could leave Kenyans worse off.
