Rabai Power Ltd and Tsavo Power Company yesterday failed to reveal the official owners and shareholders of their firms since inception years, raising concerns over possible tax evasion.

The two failed to furnish the National Assembly with the Companies Registry (CR12), a mandatory document for registration of any firm and is required during the filing of annual tax returns or when selling a stake in a company.

While appearing before the National Assembly’s Departmental Energy Committee, Tsavo CEO Julius Ruingu said he did not know CR12 was necessary for inquiry processes since the firm ceased generating power in 2021.

On the hand, Rabai Power Ltd management disclosed that its application for linking and verification of owners through e-Citizen portal is still under review by the Companies Registry despite the firm being in operation since 2006 and has been filing annual tax returns as expected, including the recent tax period that ended last month.

It implies the list of owners has either not been updated if at all, there was a change of ownership or it was operating illegally. CR12 usually outlines the list of directors/shareholders of a company, physical address, and debt registered against the company.

“We are unable to proceed without this document. How will we establish this without the name of directors?” Energy committee chair, Vincent Musyoka, told Rabai Power. The two firms have been ordered to produce the beneficial owners in the next three working days after the committee agreed to adjourn the meeting.

The committee, which is investigating the costly Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) between Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Kenya Power and Lightning Company (KPLC), requires the form to establish the true owners of the contracted IPPs.

“These documents are very significant in the inquiry. We need to know who are the specific owners, possibility of corrupt dealings and whose names some of the contracts were derived, and conflict of interest,” added Musyoka.

However, in a submission to the committee, Rabai Power Ltd stated it has 1,000 ordinary shares split between majority shareholder Rabai Power Holdings Limited which has 999 shares while Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractors hold the remaining one share.

The shares are valued at Sh100 each. The firm’s current directors are all foreigners from Denmark, Netherlands, and United Kingdom. They include Neil Allen Hopkins, a Briton who is the finance director, has the highest 34.5 per cent ownership. Carl Peter Andersen owns 25.5 per cent. Henrik Henriksen who also serves as the company director from Denmark and Karen Anneloes Dros own a 20 per cent stake each. Another Danish, Karsten Valsted Larsen, is the overall director of Rabai Power Ltd.

Other IPPs under the radar of the committee over expensive power are Lake Turkana Wind Power Limited, Orpower 4 Inc, and Kipeto Energy Limited Company. Iberafrica Power (EA) Limited, Thika Power, Gulf Power, Triumph Power Generating Co.Ltd, and Strathmore University are also on the list.

Expensive power procured by Kenya Power from the IPPs, together with hikes in taxes, have always been blamed for the current high cost of electricity consumed by households and businesses amid biting economic conditions.

The current take-it-or-pay power purchase agreements compel the utility to compensate IPPs for the power generated regardless of whether it is used or not.