Gautam Adanis proposal to run Kenyas main airport has sparked protests.
Image: Bloomberg5 min read Last Updated : Sep 28 2024 | 9:57 AM ISTBy David Herbling, P R Sanjai and Helen NyamburaBillionaire Gautam Adanis proposal to run Kenyas main airport has sparked protests, Senate hearings and lawsuits against the group controlled by Asias second-richest man, even as it bags a deal to construct high-voltage power transmission lines in the East African nation.Click here to connect with us on WhatsAppA court has already frozen Adanis unsolicited bid to expand Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, while strikes at the facility and criticism from opposition lawmakers has forced the government to defend the opaque circumstances surrounding the deal.
It comes amid allegations that Adanis $203 billion empire is under a Swiss probe for money laundering, which the group denies.From the very beginning, there has been a general pattern by the government to hide from the public what is contained in the Adani deal, Governor Anyang Nyongo, leader of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement, wrote in Kenyas The Star newspaper this week.
Past similar projects that circumvented transparent dealings and formal institutional mechanisms litter our history as major scandals.Adani is perceived as a close ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose activities are seen as part of Indias efforts to counter the reach of its rival China in resource-rich Africa.
The Kenyan government last week submitted a written explanation to lawmakers of why the proposal was above board.
The Adani Group didnt respond to request for comment.Lawsuits and HearingsAs news of the Adani deal spread in early September fed by documents released by a whistleblower on X striking airport workers fearing for their jobs ground the facility to a halt, stranding passengers.
Days earlier, a Kenyan high court temporarily froze the project, which would grant Adani Airports Holding Ltd.
a concession to run it for 30 years, after the constitutionality of the lease was challenged.The case, brought by the Kenya Human Rights Commission and Law Society of Kenya, argued the proposed development would require investment of $1.85 billion, which Kenya could raise itself without having to bow to Adanis terms.Whats most angered Kenyans simmering over frequent scandals about state corruption that have sparked street protests and deadly responses from the security forces is the veil of mystery shrouding the deal.Despite a Senate summons to present a copy of Adanis plan for the airport, Transport Secretary Davis Chirchir turned up at a meeting with lawmakers without the document on Sept.
12, local media reported.
He said the government was carrying out its due diligence after receiving the proposal at the start of March.The minister denied knowledge of other parties keen on Kenyan airports.
But Corporacion America Airports SA, one of the worlds largest airport operators, said it expressed interest mid-June but hasnt heard back from authorities.Even as Senators decried the airport deal, a presidential adviser announced that the Kenya Electricity Transmission Co.
recently awarded Adani Group and a unit of the African Development Bank a $1.3 billion public-private partnership concession to construct high-voltage power lines.Terms of the airport proposal include Adani taking an 18% equity stake in JKIA and winning an undertaking that no competing airport will be built for 30 years, according to the court documents arguing against the deal, which included details of the leaked Adani offer.Adani would also be allocated land to build hotels and businesses to compliment the airport, as well as being granted favorable tax treatment from the Kenyan government, according to the documents.Adani, in its reply to the court case, said the application contained numerous claims and allegations that were were untrue or unsubstantiated, without providing specific details.Kenyans opposing the deal argue the investment amount of $1.85 billion cited in the court application is too meager, and the concessions too deep, at a time when neighboring nations are plowing billions of dollars into new projects as they jostle to dominate the lucrative market for regional transport.Its a terrible deal, said Macharia Munene, a professor of history and international relations at the United States International University in Nairobi, pointing at the lack of transparency on the agreements terms.
They just signed and surrendered Kenyas sovereignty.Ethiopia, which already boosts Africas biggest airline, is designing what will become the continents largest airport for $5 billion.
Aided by Qatar, Rwanda is also constructing a new airport for an estimated $2 billion.Many critics have pointed to the scandals surrounding the Adani Groups dealings in other countries, particularly in India.At home, Adani is under a court-mandated probe after Hindenburg Research raised questions over its accounting and audits.
The short seller now also says the empire is in Swiss investigators cross-hairs over money laundering, claims the group has said are baseless.In the US, Adani is also facing scrutiny into whether the company may have engaged in bribery, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg earlier this year.Adani Group said at the time that it was not aware of any investigation against its chairman, and that it was subject to and fully compliant with anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws in India and other countries.First Published: Sep 28 2024 | 9:56 AMIST