Members of Parliament say Adani Airport Holdings Limited’s controversial proposal to take over and facelift the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi is akin to “mortgaging the country” and should be stopped in its entirety.

In a session where Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi appeared before the National Assembly Public Investment Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy on Tuesday, legislators called for a special audit of the $1.85 billion deal (about Ksh.239 billion at current rates).

The David Pkosing-led committee directed the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) managing director “not to do any further thing with Adani until this committee submits a report to Parliament by the end of October.”

“It looks like KAA cannot guide itself, Adani is the one guiding you and Parliament is here to do that,” Pkosing said.

The MPs raised concern over the Indian Adani Group-owned company’s sudden interest in several Kenyan sectors.

“How comes all of a sudden Adani is everywhere; SHIF, KETRACO… it is now becoming a big shareholder of Kenya,” Pkosing posed, a reference to Adani’s Ksh.94 billion deal with the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited for the construction of 422 kilometres of power transmission lines and its purported interest in running Kenya’s new Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).

The committee directed an audit into Adani’s selection for the JKIA facelift project, testaments of the work, the scope of what Adani will do, and an assessment of whether a privately-initiated proposal (PIP) was the most suitable procurement method.

The audit should also look into what happens with other Kenyan airports and airstrips amid talk that the Indian firm targets beyond JKIA, and the fate of KAA staff who have been protesting over concerns the deal poses a risk to their jobs.

The court on September 9 halted all further action on the proposed lease of JKIA to Adani until a case lodged by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) on September 9 blocking the deal was fully resolved. It is up for mention on October 8.

LSK and KHRC argue in their submissions that JKIA was leased to a foreign private entity without adequate consultation or transparency.

But Adani holds that while it already paid a $50,000 (about Ksh.6.4 million) review fee to the Kenyan government for the project, it is still at the review and due diligence stage.

The firm last week dismissed statements that JKIA has already been leased for 30 years as a misrepresentation of facts.

CS Mbadi has repeatedly defended the deal, saying Tuesday "it underwent review and significant changes were made." 

"If Kenyans still think they want to discontinue the deal, who am I to say no? But let us allow for constructive engagement," the minister told MPs, adding, "If a better deal emerges, we can stop the Adani one, but the new developer will need to compensate Adani for their involvement."