President William Ruto has ordered the immediate cancellation of the procurement process of the JKIA-Adani expansion deal.
Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, November 21, Ruto also ordered the cancellation of the Adani-Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) deal that was announced a few months ago.
As explained by the Head of State, the new orders were informed by new information regarding the integrity of the Indian company.
Ruto was referring to the recent move by US prosecutors to charge Indian billionaire Gautam Adani over bribery claims.
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“I have stated in the past, and I reiterate today, that in the face of undisputed evidence or credible information on corruption, I will not hesitate to take decisive action," he directed.
"Accordingly, I now direct - in furtherance of the principles enshrined in Article 10 of the Constitution on transparency and accountability, and based on new information provided by our investigative agencies and partner nations - that the procuring agencies within the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum immediately cancel the ongoing procurement process for the JKIA Expansion Public Private Partnership transaction, as well as the recently concluded KETRACO transmission line Public Private Partnership contract."
Consequently, he directed the relevant procurement offices to seek alternative private entities interested in the two projects.
The orders by Ruto came as a surprise given that Energy CS Opiyo Wandayi had earlier announced that the KETRACO deal would go on despite the charges facing Adani.
"Could these bribery or corruption claims have a bearing on our own process? To my knowledge, there has been no case of corruption or bribery as far as this PIP of Adani Energy Solutions is concerned," he stated while appearing before a National Assembly Committee in the morning.
Charges Facing Gautam Adani
Adani alongside other executives of his company are accused of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud.
It was also alleged that the businessman bribed Indian government officials to land a solar power tender.
“This indictment alleges schemes to pay over $250 million (Ksh32 billion) in bribes to Indian government officials, to lie to investors and banks to raise billions of dollars, and to obstruct justice,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Miller remarked.
