By Antynet Ford
Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura has defended the move to have Adani Holdings Investment at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) saying they have a track record.
Mwaura lauded the Indian Infrastructure company saying the government has confidence that they will do a good job in face-lifting JKIA.
“We need to change going forward and that is why we need a strategic partner bit I can say this without a fear of doubt that Adani has a very good track record in India and other places in investments.” Mwaura said.
The government spokesperson noted that the $1.85 billion (Ksh.242 billion) investment deal will fix most parts of the airport including terminals, the runways, and the now dilapidated roofs that always leak during torrential rains.
“The facility is only able to cover 7.5 million passengers but last year alone we covered 8.6 million so we can cover even more like 10 million. We put tents that were next to the runways, they had 10 years, it’s now over nine years which is why they are leaking, they cannot sustain. They’ve also proposed to refurbish and create new electricity lines so that we don’t have the power outages because the current lines cannot carry the load that is why we have load shedding everywhere.” Mwaura stated.
He added that Kenya has to welcome external players to finance the nation’s development adding that it will be the way out of huge borrowings by the government.
According to Mwaura, the nation, facing a harsh cash crunch, is forced to rope in foreign financial muscle to help it achieve its ambitious development plans.
“You’ll be seeing more of these. We’ll be getting more PPPs and PIPs so that then we have a way of refinancing our development because the issue of borrowing is becoming a challenge.” He said.
This comes amid harsh criticism as Kenyans have smelt a rat in the deal, given that the government has failed to make public the details of the partnership.
According to the Indian Times, Adani Holdings does not have a clean closet as Mwaura alluded.
Read also:- No deal with Adani yet, Mudavadi says after uproar by Kenyans
In 2023, the company was being investigated after account books and other related papers associated with Mumbai International Airport Ltd and Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd were put to question under fraud allegations.
Adani Holdings was managing the two airports.