President William Ruto has cancelled the ongoing deals between Kenya and the Adani Group.
Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, November 21, during the State of the Nation Address, the president ended the multi-billion deals that were apparently meant to expand the two companies.
Ruto directed that in light of the new information provided by international allies and investigating agencies, the procurement agencies should immediately cancel the expansion process of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and KETRACO.
“Because of the information that has been provided to us by partner nations, I have directed agencies between The Ministry of Transport and The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, to immediately cancel the ongoing procurement process for JKIA expansion public/private partnership transaction, as well as the recently concluded Ketraco deal, and immedlitely commence the process of onborading other partners,” he said.
BREAKING: President Ruto cancels the JKIA and KETRACO deals with Adani Group pic.twitter.com/26Kmi3SVXW
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) November 21, 2024
Gautam Adani accused of fraud
This just comes hours after a report from the United States reported that Adani Group Chairperson and Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and other executives were indicted in New York for alleged bribery amounting to up to $250 million (KSh 32 billion).
This is alleged to have been behind a scheme to develop a major solar power plant in the US. The billionaire’s nephew, Sagar Adani, promised $250m in bribes to Indian government officials to secure the energy plant contracts.
According to CNN, the deal was expected to yield more than $3 billion in profits.
Prosecutors said the renewable energy company raised over $3 billion in loans and bonds through false and misleading statements.
Adani in Kenya
Recently, Kenya signed a 30-year deal with Adani to build power lines and substations, which they would finance, construct and operate in a deal estimated at KSh95.68 billion.
The group was also to ink a deal to take control of the JKIA and lead its expansion to a state-of-the-art, modern airport.
