Anne Njeri Njoroge, the businesswoman who went missing after she was allegedly linked to the importation of 100,000 metric tons of oil valued at 17 billion shillings, showed up in court on Tuesday.
Ann was seen alongside lawyer cliff Ombeta while they were accessing the Mombasa High Court.
Njoroge had been reported missing, with her phone switched off and police officers confirmed that she was not in custody, having appeared at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) along Kiambu Road.
According to lawyer Cliff Ombeta,on Saturday, Anne Njeri Njoroge was summoned to the DCI headquarters in Nairobi on Thursday. He however said he has not heard from her since.
“Energy CS Chirchir told her that she needed to report to DCI headquarters in Nairobi. She met the DCI boss (Mohamed) Amin who directed her to the investigators. When she left, she was blocked, and since then, we have not seen her,” Ombeta added.
The lawyer connected Njeri’s disappearance to Sh17 billion diesel oil that she imported into the country from Turkey, through Saudi Arabia, and through her company Ann’s Import and Export Enterprises Ltd.
According to reports, the ship ferrying the consignment had been blocked from leaving the dock and the diesel being offloaded until the ownership dispute was heard and determined.
However, Chirchir indicated that the consignment was imported by another company, adding that the government would work with various agencies to trace the owner of the consignment.
“The consignment was brought in by a company called Galana and it has been discharged. So, we want to know the truth but the case is in court at the moment,” the CS stated during a tree-planting exercise in Baringo County on Monday, November 13.
While addressing journalists outside the court, Ann said that she was abducted and dumped in a forest foe reasons she has not clearly understood until now.
She said that moments after she had applied for a permit Energy Petroleum and Regulatory Authority (EPRA) offices, CS Chirchir told her tht the oil did not belong to her hence directed her to the DCI offices for further probe.
“I applied at EPRA, paid according to the law and been waiting to receive a permit. As I waited, I went to visit CS Chirchir who told me that the oil didn’t belong to me but to Galana Energies Limited. I told him that I had not sold it to anyone or signed anything with Galana Energies Limited hence it’s mine. He told me it’s not possible and directed me to report to the DCI,” she stated.
She was later directed to another room to record a statement but the room was a basement. From there she taken by uniformed officers who asked her to surrender the belongings she had and she was taken to an unknown place.
She was then blindfolded and taken into another car which took her to a room and she was covered by a balaclava. She spent a night there before being released to the forest.
Revealing his frustrations, Ombeta said that a higher power had a hand in the abduction and wanted the government to provide answers.
“What kind of law is this? If the government itself is corrupt, then how can we operate? She has retrieved oil consignments on many occasions, so why is it a problem now?” Ombeta wondered.