Raila testing waters for new Adani deal – Airport workers say
Raila is being used to test waters, Airport workers say amid claims of likely new Adani deal for JKIA.
Raila is being used to test waters, Airport workers say amid claims of likely new Adani deal for JKIA.
The Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU) Secretary General, Moss Ndiema, has criticised former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, accusing him of attempting to instigate a fresh bid to lease the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to Adani Group.
This is after Odinga yesterday criticised anti-Adani protesters, saying that Kenya squandered a massive opportunity to modernise its main airport. Speaking on Monday, September 22, Odinga said Adani came to Kenya to invest and not to take away resources.
“When Adani came here and wanted to rehabilitate our airport, too much noise was being made in Parliament for no reason at all. Adani pulled out. They were not taking it away; they wanted to bring in their money,” said Odinga.
Responding to Raila’s controversial sentiments, the KAWU boss said Odinga was being used to test the waters on the possibility of reviving Adani’s airport deal.
Ndiema went ahead to claim that Odinga’s strong defence for the defunct multi-billion-dollar project was because the latter would be one of the beneficiaries of the deal.
“When you hear Raila Odinga talking about Adani, he is testing the waters. He is being used to test the waters. And for a fact, Raila had a share in the Adani deal,” said Ndiema.
“We have a lot of respect for him, but he has goofed in the issue of Adani; it’s because he had his cat, which is why he is bitter about it. Adani was not good,” he added.
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While taking a swipe at the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader, Ndiema challenged Raila to share Adani’s proposal on the airport’s expansion for public scrutiny.
Ndiema also dismissed Raila’s claim that Adani came to invest rather than take away resources. According to the KAWU Secretary General, Adani wanted to use JKIA as collateral to borrow money on behalf of the government.
“They were not coming here to invest even a cent. They wanted to use JKIA as collateral to borrow money. If that is the case, the KAA can use that collateral to borrow money directly. Do we need a middleman?” Ndiema stated.
In November last year, President William Ruto ordered the immediate termination of the Adani deals meant for the main airport’s expansion and the construction of power transmission lines.
Speaking on November 21, during a State of the Nation address, the head of State directed the Transport Cabinet Secretary, Davis Chirchir and his Energy Counterpart, Opiyo Wandayi, to immediately halt the deals.
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