When the tragic news that the William Ruto government has sold Kenya’s international airport (JKIA) to a shady company in India and the nation was enraged, President William Ruto had very sweet words to assure Kenyans nothing like that would happen under his presidency.
“Am I a madman to sell a strategic national asset like an airport?” President Ruto asked Kenyans a few days ago.
Right now, William Ruto’s new and old appointees are telling Kenyans that the Adani company grab of their beloved airport is the best thing President Ruto has done for Kenya and is fully in process.
Who is lying? President Ruto or his appointees? Both and all of them are experts in that favorite line of work in their politics, which is to lie and lie to Kenyans every day and sooner than later Kenyans will get tired of the lies and accept that as the reality of their new government. It is what it is. Maybe not for too long if things get out of bounds for President Ruto and they are every day.
Meetings have been taking place this week between top government officials, the Kenya Airports Authority, and leaders of the Kenya Aviation Workers Union who are opposed to the deal and have twice postponed their strike to engage the government in talks.
Labour Cabinet Secretary Dr. Alfred Mutua interacts with Kenya Airports Authority staff on September 4, 2024.
Labour CS Mutua Addresses JKIA Workers Amid Privatization Concerns
Amid domestic opposition to the deal, the details of which have not been made public, the Kenyan government on Tuesday reportedly sent 16 top state officials including Kenya Airports Authority staff to Mumbai – on a due diligence mission – to meet with Adani executives and witness their operations before the official takeover.
Before the visit, Adani Group this week established Airports Infrastructure PLC, a Kenyan subsidiary company based in Nairobi, designed to manage, upgrade, and modernize the JKIA Airport, with reports indicating that the Indian firm will operate the airport for 30 years.
The aviation workers fear that if the deal goes through, it will lead to job losses as well as reduced earnings for the employees who will remain.
“We want all details put on the table,” KAWU says, asking: “Why are things being done in secrecy?”
According to him, the government had only provided limited documents to the union, on condition that they must not be shared with other aviation workers.
“Whether they sign the deal or not, the government must listen to us,” he adds, warning that if their demands are not met, they will stage ‘mother of all strikes’ that will disrupt and halt operations at airports across Kenya.
Lawmakers both in the National Assembly and in the Senate have also questioned why the government is not providing full details of the deal. They accused the government of hiding crucial information that is leading to suspicion around the deal.
“Airport is government property. Kenyans need to know the truth,” Kinangop lawmaker Kwenya Thuku said during a parliamentary session.
On Wednesday, labour and social protection minister Alfred Mutua met the leaders of the aviation union, promising to ensure all documents of the deal are provided to them by the weekend. It followed an earlier meeting that ended without a resolution two weeks ago.
Suba Churchill, the executive director of Kenya National Civil Society Centre accused Ruto’s government of contravening Article 10 of the constitution which requires the state to engage Kenyans on such strategic investments and seek their views.
Suba tells The Africa Report that civil society groups will go to court to seek the cancellation of the deal, in the event Adani takes over airport operations. The government’s decision not to publish details of the deal is in bad faith, he adds. “We smell grand corruption in this deal. It is aimed to benefit a few people in government.”
In June, Ruto denied claims that he had plans to sell the airport to a private investor, claiming that the government was seeking investors to partner with under a Public-Private Partnership to expand and improve the airport’s facilities.
“Am I a madman to sell a strategic national asset like an airport?” Ruto said at the time.
In the meantime, Government spokesman Isaac Mwaura speaking during a press at KICC, Nairobi on September 5, 2024 was full of praise for the Adani Group takeover of JKIA.
That is Ruto government’s spokesman, right? Who else does he speak for rather than President William Ruto himself?
This was the news back then when Mwaura was given the job to speak for Ruto; In a significant move aimed at enhancing transparency and effective communication within the Government of Kenya, Hon. Dr. Isaac Mwaura has been sworn in as the Government Spokesperson. Dr. Mwaura’s appointment comes with a mandate to oversee and streamline the strategic communication function of government policies, programs, projects, and initiatives.
And here is Isaac Mwaura doing his work for President Ruto today as the Adani Group secret grabbing of JKIA under Ruto explodes in the President’s face.
“Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), a key national asset constructed in 1978 and managed by the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), has seen significant infrastructure deterioration over the past 45 years,” Mwaura said.
In the deal, the government intends to bring on board Indian-based Adani Group Holdings to undertake the refurbishment works in a process Mwaura says is rigorous.
Mwaura listed four reasons the government has decided to modernise JKIA by bringing in the Adani Group Holdings.
Mwaura said the current state of JKIA is unable to support the growing passenger and cargo traffic.
He said that incidences such as leaking roofs and power outages have underscored the urgent need for infrastructure upgrades at JKIA.
“These challenges have caused International embarrassment and have highlighted the need for modernization,” Mwaura said.
He said the upgrades are part of the Cabinet-approved National Aviation Policy and JKIA’s Medium-Term Investment plan.
The Indian multinational has submitted a proposal to the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) to take over JKIA in a 30-year concession arrangement that involves upgrading the facility.
Adani plans to invest up to $750 million (about Sh96.6 billion at the current exchange rate), in the construction of a second runway; a new passenger terminal, an associated apron and taxiway systems among other developments, in a build-operate-transfer module that will allow it recoup its investment.
The proposed agreement includes raising airport charges to compete with regional facilities and a fixed concession fee to the Kenya Airports, a move that has widely been criticized by Kenyan lobby groups, led by the Kenya Aviation Workers’ Union (KAWU).
As of now President Ruto could be facing multiple strikes in the country from very key sectors of the Kenyan economy. The public sector workers and civil servants want their wages sorted out or it is a massive national strike by those crucial workers in our Kenya.
The medical workers both at the national and county level have declared they are going on strike because none of what they were promised when they called off their national strike a few weeks ago has been met and the government is just playing games.
The teachers strike which the Ruto government has been trying to solve with all sorts of promises and nothing real happening could be back in another week.
If President William Ruto cannot get his act together he is going to face a political tsunami in Kenya never seen before and we are talking weeks from now forget 2027. Bring it ON.
