- Uganda has appointed Ramathan Ggoobi and Irene Pauline Bateebe as non-executive directors on the Kenya Pipeline Company board.
- The appointments strengthen Uganda’s role in regional petroleum infrastructure as the country advances plans to expand fuel transportation and storage.
Uganda has appointed Ramathan Ggoobi and Irene Pauline Bateebe as non-executive directors on the board of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) following its acquisition of a 20 per cent stake in the company.
KPC confirmed that the appointments took effect on July 28, 2026. The company also appointed Kenyan nationals Samson Kipkemboi Burgei, CPA Ronald Kenyanya Nyamosi and Eng. Meshack Heshack Otieno Kidereda to the board.
The appointments form part of the governance structure agreed after Uganda became a strategic shareholder in KPC through Kenya’s privatisation programme.
The investment gives Uganda representation on the board of one of East Africa’s most strategic energy infrastructure companies. It also strengthens Kampala’s role in regional fuel transportation and storage.
Kenya Pipeline Company operates a 1,342-kilometre petroleum pipeline network linking the Port of Mombasa to inland depots across Kenya, including Eldoret. The network supplies refined petroleum products to Uganda and other regional markets.
KPC has also invested in 1.13 billion litres of petroleum storage capacity and operates a modern marine loading facility at the Kisumu Oil Jetty on Lake Victoria.
The company identified the Eldoret-Kampala pipeline corridor as a strategic regional infrastructure project with significant expansion potential.
The appointments come as Uganda accelerates investment in its downstream petroleum sector.
Uganda’s Parliament recently approved a US$2 billion financing facility from global energy trader Vitol for the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC). The financing will support the acquisition of additional KPC shares and fund the extension of the refined petroleum products pipeline from Eldoret to Kampala. The pipeline extension will reduce Uganda’s reliance on road transport for fuel imports. It will also lower logistics costs and strengthen fuel supply security.
Uganda imports more than two billion litres of refined petroleum products each year, with most volumes arriving through Kenya’s Northern Corridor. KPC described Ramathan Ggoobi as an economist, academic and public policy leader with extensive experience in macroeconomic policy, public financial management and development economics.
Ggoobi currently serves as Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury at Uganda’s Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. The company also described Irene Pauline Bateebe as a senior public sector leader with more than 20 years of experience across the energy, mining and petroleum sectors.
Bateebe currently serves as Permanent Secretary at Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. Her expertise includes infrastructure financing, project structuring, renewable energy, petroleum infrastructure and regulatory development.