Nairobi: 2 Employees Busted Driving Away With Company's 600 Litres Of Fuel

• Two employees of the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (KUSCCO) Ltd are in custody awaiting arraignment after being arrested with fuel loot
• The duo was deployed near Wilson Airport to guard the company's fuel but conspired with their accomplice, a pickup driver to ferry the loot
• Detectives from the DCI's Operation Support Unit caught up with them after they were furnished with an intelligence report

Kai Eli, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings more than three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Detectives from the DCI's Operation Support Unit arrested suspects in fuel theft on Saturday, May 25.

They are employees of Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (KUSCCO) Ltd.

According to the DCI, the duo illegally siphoned 600 litres of diesel from the company's reservoirs.

KUSCCO employees chase KSh 107k out of fuel loot

They loaded the loot onto a Mitsubishi pickup at KAA Estate adjacent to Wilson Airport, where the detectives intercepted them.

The detectives pursued them after getting an intelligence report.

They had been deployed to protect the fuel valued at KSh 107,460 meant for the company's generators in Upper Hill when they resolved to loot.

The suspects are John Kioko and Michael Kioko; the pickup driver they conspired with has been identified as Gabriel Ngeta, 48.

They were booked into detention as the detectives and officials from the Energy Petroleum and Regulatory Authority (EPRA) concluded their probe ahead of the trio's arraignment.

KPC employees busted looting KSh 2.4m fuel

Last year, three employees of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) were prosecuted for stealing petroleum products from the company’s Kisumu terminal.

Reuben Andolo Aseneka, Joseph Mbugua Mwai, and Mutai Micah were charged with conspiracy to steal 13,852 litres of motor spirit premium – commonly known as petrol – belonging to oil marketers’ companies, which was in the custody of KPC.

The fuel was valued at KSh 2.4 million.

Appearing before Kisumu Chief Magistrate Dickson Onyango, the three pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution opposed bond for the trio, arguing that the offence amounted to economic sabotage punishable by law.

In his ruling, the chief magistrate noted that the right to bond is a right for every individual, though not absolute.

He released them on a bond of KSh 500,000 and a surety of a similar amount each.

Proofreading by Otukho Jackson, a multimedia journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke