Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka says Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi is doing damage control after details emerged about a proposal by an Indian company to the Kenyan government for the expansion of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

Adani Airport Holdings seeks to upgrade the airport in Nairobi over the next 30 years, in a $1.85 billion (Ksh.242 billion) investment deal through a public-private partnership arrangement, commonly known as a PPP.

The proposal has however elicited mixed reactions from Kenyans, politicians and civil society groups, who raise concerns about how scanty details about it have been public, as well as fears that such a project would amount to a ‘sale’ of Kenya’s main airport.

Mudavadi’s office on Tuesday published a full-page status report and assurance statement on the Adani proposal in a local daily, in which he maintained that JKIA is not on sale and that the deal is still subject to scrutiny and will be carried out transparently.

Onyonka dismissed the statement as a waste of public resources, saying Mudavadi is “refuting the obvious.”

“What Mudavadi is doing is damage control. He knows the public is shocked,” the senator told Citizen TV’s Daybreak program, “We just discovered you have a deal which nobody knows about!”

And while Mudavadi and President William Ruto maintain that the deal was a privately initiated proposal by the Indian company – and not an open tender – the senator claims there is more to the proposal than the government is saying.

Onyonka, who was among those who raised alarm over the deal earlier this month before the government came out to address the matter, alleges that there were more private companies initially involved in the proposal.

He told Citizen TV that the state cannot be believed in its stance that no agreement has been reached on the multi-billion-shilling deal. 

“Our questions are not on how big and good the airport you want to build is... it is about following the law. Can’t we open how we discuss transactions, whether between governments or with international bodies?” posed the senator.

“How did Rwanda raise $2 billion to build a brand-new airport, and the Qatari government has allowed Rwanda to own 40 aircraft, whereas you want to refurbish our airport with almost Ksh.270 billion?”

Onyonka earlier this month petitioned the Senate Committee on Roads and Transport to set the record straight on the Adani deal, which he claimed – and still holds – has been signed already. He at the time cited an unnamed French whistle-blower.

“There is no illegality in signing documents. Show us the facts of what you have done because that is what the law requires me as a member of the oversight team; to question the deal and transactions you have gotten into,” the senator said on Tuesday.

“Tell Mudavadi to stop writing one-page articles and come to the Senate and tell us what is happening to the parastatals. We need the airports, but please do all this within the law.”

President Ruto on Sunday laughed off concerns his government will sell JKIA to foreigners, telling a town hall in Mombasa: “Am I a madman? How would you sell a strategic national assent?... A public-private partnership has the potential to bring private sector money and public sector investment to create a win-win money.”

ADANI’S DEAL

The proposed PPP comprises the improvement of JKIA’s passenger terminal, the building of a new one, the construction of a second runway, as well as improvements to the taxiway and apron.

Documents seen by Citizen Digital show that Adani seeks a ‘build, operate and transfer’ (BoT) agreement with the Kenyan government, which will see it run JKIA for 30 years as it recoups its investment at a rate they agree on.

During these 30 years, the Indian firm wants to determine and collect charges for non-aeronautical and other commercial activities at JKIA without restrictions from the government, until it hands the airport back to the state.

Adani further seeks special friendlier tax policies and exemptions from corporate tax for “certain years.”

The company also indicates that it expects to get 18 per cent of the project’s annual returns over 30 years.

The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) last week said the deal requires significant capital investment which the government cannot afford due to current financial constraints.

On his part, Mudavadi says the upgrade plan is in line with the Ksh.260 billion JKIA Medium-Term Investment Plan approved by the Cabinet in June 2024. 

($1 = Ksh.131.05)