•SCEA wants more details on the deal mainly plans for cargo freight, infrastructural improvement and how current private investments will be protected.
•Says any deal must respect existing agreements and contracts, and guarantee that there will be no disruption of business now and during the concession period.
Sixteen top Kenyan officials last night left the country for India for a due diligence on the firm set to take over operations at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, even as opposition on the deal piled up.
They include nine top KAA managers, four board members, an official from Treasury's Public Private Partnerships committee, a representative of the Attorney General's office and a top manager at Wilson Airport.
This as the Shippers Council of Eastern Africa (SCEA) demanded that Kenya Airports Authority comes clean on the ongoing negotiations with Adani Holdings on the JKIA takeover saying could impact freight businesses.
It becomes the latest entity to raise concerns over the planned handover of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the Indian investor in a proposed 30-year concession, which has been widely opposed by Kenya Aviation Workers’ Union (KAWU) and a section of the public.
Adani plans to invest up to $750 million (about Sh96.5 billion at current exchange rate), in among others, construction of a second runway.
It also plans to put up a new passenger terminal, associated apron and taxiway systems in a build-operate-transfer module that will allow it recoup its investment.
The proposed agreement includes raising airport charges to compete with regional facilities and a fixed concession fee to the Kenya Airports, a move that is seen to rattle importers, exporters and freight businesses operating at the airport and SCEA members.
The council is seeking more details on the deal mainly plans for cargo freight, infrastructural improvement to be done and how the current huge private sector investments at JKIA will be protected.
According to SCEA chief executive Agayo Ogambi, any deal at the facility must respect existing agreements and contracts, and guarantee that there will be no disruption of business now and during the concession period.
“And of course, proper awarding cognizance of our PPP policies and requisite government approvals in a transparent manner, incorporating stakeholders' views and concerns including issues raised by the current KAA employees,” Ogambi told the Star during an interview yesterday.
Unionised Kenya Airports Authority staff have threatened a major strike after several attempts to try and seek answers from relevant state institutions failed.
Led by KAWU, they are questioning the deal that will see the takeover of JKIA, with potential job losses.
KAWU Secretary General Moss Ndiema said JKIA is making its own money and can finance its own modernisation including expansion plans.
He said if a new investor was to come in, they should build a new terminal at JKIA and manage it.
“We are not ready to surrender it to anyone. We are going to do this daily until Adani goes,” he said.
Last week, the Parliamentary Public Debt and Privatisation Committee called for a pause on negotiations until details of the deal are made clear.
The protests however seem not to deter the matchmakers as Adani Enterprises has also gone ahead and set up a Kenyan subsidiary as it eyes the deal.
“We would like to inform that Global Airports Operators L.L.C, Abu Dhabi, a step-down subsidiary of the Company has incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary namely Airports Infrastructure PLC in Kenya on August 30, 2024,” it said in a filing at the National Stock Exchange of India.
The subsidiary will own 100 per cent of AIP's share capital. As part of the incorporation of the Kenyan company, Adani issued share capital of Sh6.75 million, consisting of 6,750 shares at Sh1,000 each.
The government has however maintained that the deal is not yet in place.
“The review of the proposal by Adani for JKIA upgrade is ongoing. The National Treasury will give a comprehensive submission after concluding the review,” National Treasury PS Chris Kiptoo said.
MPs however demanded that Treasury be directed to stop further engagements with Adani.
Kinangop MP Kwenya Thuku said government’s laxity in providing information was the reason for speculation and suspicion around the deal.