The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is set to be handed over to Indian firm Adani Airport Holdings that is owned by the larger Adani Group in November 2024.
This has been revealed by an insider report by a local media station that referenced remarks that were made by the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) Acting Managing Director Henry Ogoye.
Ogoye, the media report by the Standard Group noted, told a stakeholders meeting in Nairobi on Friday that Adani should be allowed to take over the running of the airport because even if they are not allowed to take over, another entity will be allowed.
“I have handled Adani for six months; let us not get emotional. Even if Adani might be here for 30 years, someone else might take over,” Ogoye was quoted as saying.
He further claimed that KAA will help Adani manage the airport for the first two years, after which Adani will take over for a period that will last three decades.
Ogoye further stated that the government through the KAA had agreed on a six-month timeline with Adani, after which Adani will pull out if no deal is reached.
“We are discussing Adani because it’s the only option on the table… We agreed that within six months, the project should start, or Adani will pull out,” he was quoted as saying.
The meeting had been called to explain details of the deal to stakeholders by the KAA. However, contrary to expectations by the stakeholders, the KAA did not present any documentations on the deal.
According to the media report, the meeting ended abruptly at around 1pm after KAA claimed that the time they had booked for the meeting was up.
The deal to hand over Kenya’s most prominent aviation facility to the Indian firm has caught a lot of heat and opposition from Kenyans. This deal, which was leaked during the June and July 2024 anti-government protests has come amidst a series of controversial exposes on the operations of the Adani Group by Hindenburg Research.
In 2023, Hindenburg Research had stated that family members of the Adani family have used offshore shell companies to create illegitimate revenue for the mother company, and siphon money from the mother company’s publicly listed arms.
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Hindenburg had labeled Adani Group as the largest con in corporate history, and claimed that the conglomerate had engaged in a long-running stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme, accusations that Adani denied.
According to a subsequent report that was published by the Hindenburg Research on Saturday, August 10, 2024, Madhabi Puri Buch, who is the chairperson of the Securities Exchange Board of India, and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had invested in offshore entities that were allegedly part of a fund structure in which Vinod Adani, who is the brother of billionaire Gautam Adani, also had investments.