The Mt Kenya Times 
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- The story of renovating JKIA a well strategy aimed at giving Indians led by Adani an opportunity to corruptly mint billions of shilling. Kenyans will shoulder this burden.
- The critics would also allege through writing and posting of unverified videos in social media that Adani group had been blacklisted in other countries.
- This include their motherland of Indian.
- As President Ruto noted during the GenZ protests, he resorted to declining to sign Finance Bill 2024 after it dawned on him that the public had been fed with a lot of propaganda, half-truth and outright lies.
- He seemed to point a finger on channels of communication within the government.
A lot have been said and written about the multi-billion contract awarded by the Government of Kenya to an Indian Congramurate, Adani Group, for the renovation of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
But much of what we have heard so far is a one-sided and unsubstantiated claims coming from those opposed to the deal.
The opponents have been seizing every opportunity to demonize the deal.
They would want Kenyans to believe that the law was not followed during the contracting process.
They would further allege that President William Ruto have a hand in this deal that was secured through single-sourcing.
To them, Adani group, did not have the interest of Kenyans at heart.
The story of renovating JKIA a well strategy aimed at giving Indians led by Adani an opportunity to corruptly mint billions of shilling. Kenyans will shoulder this burden.
The critics would also allege through writing and posting of unverified videos in social media that Adani group had been blacklisted in other countries.
This include their motherland of Indian.
As President Ruto noted during the GenZ protests, he resorted to declining to sign Finance Bill 2024 after it dawned on him that the public had been fed with a lot of propaganda, half-truth and outright lies.
He seemed to point a finger on channels of communication within the government.
This Financial Bill could not have faced this stiff resistance if we had educated and enlightened the public about its benefit.
As we know, the issue of communication and relaying of the correct information to the public is paramount.
Actually, this is reason that informed the President to create the Office of the Government Spokesman.
In so doing, he followed the footsteps of his predecessors.
By now, I would have expected this office to have learn some big lessons but this seems not to be the case if the ongoing anti-Adani group protests is anything to go by.
I’m not holding brief for President Ruto but I want to state why I dispute some of the claims and share with Kenyans the information I have gathered since the opposition on Gov’t-Adani deal started.
First, I have seen a letter written by Adani group stating that it had clinched contract to renovate JKIA to an international standard after a competitive bidding. I am yet to see the critics disapproving this with a documented and proven evidence. All we have heard is rumbling and spewing of all manner of propaganda and rumors in social media.
Secondly in India, there are more than 30 airports. The one that meets international standard in terms of infrastructural development is called Islamabad.
The renovation work of this facility had been done by Adani group and the group is up to to date managing this airport.
So, the rumors swirling around here in Kenya alleging that the company had been blacklisted in India were hollow, ill-advised and baseless.
I heard one of critics posing. Why Adani is only managing one airport in India? You cannot use this as a basis of discrediting the company.
The Adani officials are well-placed to respond. May be this was main airport in india and the administration wanted its status to be elevated.
It is also worth noting that the clips posted on Kenyan social media were those showing the images of alleged opposition activists in India.
Just like Kenyan context, even if we assume the clips were authenticate, we know the role of the opposition is to portray the mega projects being undertaken by the government of the day in bad light.
I also saw video clip of alleged a dozen protestors in Australia. The opponents wanted Kenyans to believe they were protesting the decision by authorities there to award a contract to renovate and manage one of the main airports to Adani group. Again, it was hard to authenticate these images. One would have also expected the critics to shed light on whether the deal was revoked or not. They would not do this.
Thirdly, taking cognizant that the decision to award the contract for the renovation of JKIA was done through competitive bidding, our constitution is clear on how this should be done.
It was therefore wrong to drag the name of President Ruto. I dare those who think the law was not followed to step out.
Notably, the decision by Ruto administration to award the contract to Adani is not a new phenomena.
The contracts for Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and Nairobi Expressway had also been sealed through a similar arrangement of Public-Private partnership.
PPP means that a consortia of wealthier people in those countries will fund these projects.
Once completed, they will recover their monies by managing the projects for certain period of time.
For Nairobi Expressway, reports indicated that China consortium will manage this project until the year 2043.
As for Adani, I have heard the critics saying the group will reportedly manage JKIA for 30 years.
I have not seen the contract but I’m sure the agreement specify the period of time.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga Is A Writer and Commentator based in Nairobi
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