On Thursday (21st November), Kenyan President William Ruto announced the cancellation of the ‘procurement process’ meant to handover the control of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi to the Adani Group for upgrade.
“I now direct in furtherance of the principles enshrined in Article 10 of the Constitution on Transparency and Accountability, and based on new information provided by investigative agencies and partner nations, that the procuring agencies within the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum immediately cancel the ongoing procurement process for the JKIA Expansion Public-Private Partnership Transaction,” William Ruto claimed.
“Let me repeat this for clarity. I have said that because of the information that has been provided to us by partner nations, I have directed agencies within the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum to immediately cancel the ongoing procurement process for JKI Expansion Public-Private Partnership Transaction, as well as the recently concluded Ketrago Transmission in public,” he concluded.
In address to the nation, Kenya President Ruto announces cancellation of deals with Indian group Adani.pic.twitter.com/P0tyms0PmX https://t.co/dmT1wwY6jZ
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) November 21, 2024
The development comes hours after the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicted Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and others in a $250 million bribery and fraud case. The Indian conglomerate has rubbished the baseless allegations, adding that it was pursuing all legal recourse.
In September this year, the Congress party objected to the proposal of Adani Group to upgrade the the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had claimed that the opposition against the Indian conglomerate could “easily convert into anger against India and the Indian Government”
