I recall in 1973 when Parliament debated incorporation of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), the maverick Butere MP, Martin Shikuku, remarked that the project was a white elephant and that taxpayer money should instead be invested in a water pipeline from Lake Victoria, over Mau hills to irrigate Rift Valley farms.
KPC, a petroleum logistics monopoly protected by effective regulations, replaced transhipment of petroleum by railways and trucks to become one of the most profitable cash-rich companies in Kenya.
