- Social media was awash with reports that JKIA was up for leasing to an international company purportedly for 30 years.
- Mudavadi said there are no plans whatsoever to put the airport on sale although there are long term plans to upgrade the facility.
The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is not up for sale, the government has said.
The clarification follows weeks of claims online that the Airport had been leased to a foreign entity.
But speaking on Monday while appearing before the Budget and Appropriations Committee at County Hall, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi said there are no plans whatsoever to put the airport on sale although there are long-term plans to upgrade the facility.
“This is a public asset, it is a strategic asset and if it was going to be sold, you can only do it after a full public process that Parliament endorses. So anybody who is giving the impression that Jomo Kenyatta airport has been sold is not being factual,” he said.
The Prime CS, however, said there is a need for the Airport to be modernised including the construction of a new terminal.
He said previous plans to erect a new Greenfield Terminal never materialised after litigation stalled the contractual agreements.
“What we know that is important is that going forward, the Kenya Airports Authority must look at its investment programme very carefully, make sure that everything is transparent so that during the expansion process of the second terminal, if it’s under the PPP arrangement, let it be done properly, thoroughly through the legal process so that everybody knows what is going on,” he said.
Mudavadi further said that the government is working on a long-term strategy to position Nairobi as a logistical hub part of which will involve having cities like Mombasa and Naivasha with operation centres at the airport.
“Logistics hubs that meet certain standards so that the United Nations can use this destination Kenya as a logistical hub for their operations just the way there is a logistics hub in Italy by the United Nations,” he said.
“So these are some of the long-term objectives we have around Jomo Kenyatta airport but it’s not for sale so I hope that clears the air."
Social media was awash with reports that JKIA was up for leasing to an international company purportedly for 30 years.
Mudavadi was appearing before the Budget and Appropriations Committee in his capacity as acting Treasury CS to explain changes in the Supplementary Budget, 2024-25.
President William Ruto designated him the acting CS in all the vacant ministerial portfolios after he sacked his entire Cabinet on July 11.