(JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN) – A Kenyan businesswoman and former executive director of Trinity Energy, Anne Warutere, has been placed at the centre of a controversial oil deal in South Sudan after details of her role were raised in an open letter by Maverick Aoko.
The letter, posted on Facebook and addressed to South Sudan President Salva Kiir and his advisor Adut Salva Kiir, raises questions about the handling of the country’s oil resources and names Warutere among those linked to the transactions under scrutiny.
Warutere served as executive director of Trinity Energy, a company that received more than 40% of South Sudan’s crude oil allocations between 2018 and 2019.
The scale of the allocation placed the company in a powerful position in the country’s oil business at a time when South Sudan was facing serious economic and social challenges.
The Sentry, an investigative organisation, later examined Trinity Energy’s financial records and raised questions about millions of dollars listed as financing costs. According to the investigation, the company spent about $6.5 million under this category.
About $4 million was recorded under expenses described as visits, meetings, travel, lobbyist fees and facilitation fees.
One of the transactions raised in the investigation involved Warutere herself. In August 2018, she reportedly made a request for 10 million South Sudanese pounds, describing the money as business acquisition fees payable to intermediaries.
The request was approved, and the money was handed to her by the company’s human resources manager. Warutere signed for the cash.
Investigators were later told by company insiders that the money was intended for the finance minister and his team. However, according to the claims raised in the investigation, Warutere did not provide receipts showing how the money was eventually spent.
Warutere disputed the interpretation of the payment. She said the money had been used to settle old bills dating back to between 2016 and 2018.
She also maintained that she did not know of any bribery involving the company.
At the same time, questions were raised about her explanation of her involvement in Trinity Energy’s day to day operations given her position as executive director.
Her business interests also came under scrutiny. Warutere controlled Rakam Investment, which was described as the majority shareholder in Wayshire, a company involved in transporting Trinity Energy’s fuel.
The arrangement raised questions about possible conflicts of interest because of the links between the companies involved in the supply and transportation of fuel.
The Sentry also raised concerns about other transactions involving Trinity Energy. Among them was a reported $400,000 loan to the office of the first vice president.
The company was also reported to have supplied diesel to a general who was under United Nations sanctions.
The transactions have attracted criticism because of questions over transparency and the use of South Sudan’s oil resources.
The country has depended heavily on oil revenues, making the management of crude oil allocations and the money generated from them a major public issue.
Oil revenue is a major source of public income, and questions over how those resources are allocated and spent have direct consequences for public services and ordinary citizens.
