Gachagua says he was not involved in Adani deal

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua now says he was never involved in the making and passage of the Adani deals during his time as the principal deputy of President William Ruto.

Speaking on Sunday evening during a live TV interview, the former DP said nobody involved him in the deal with the Indian conglomerate that has since been suspended by President Ruto.

"Nobody involved me, and had the matter come to the cabinet committee that I chair, I would have heard about the details because the sessions I used to chair were very exhaustive, so I would have known the beginning and the ends," Gachagua said.

"The matter of the Adani deals did not come out in the cabinet meetings and subcommittees I chaired."

On November 21, during the State of the Nation address in Parliament, President Ruto ordered the immediate cancellation of the planned Adani Group takeover deal of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Ruto at the same time also canceled the signed deal between Adani and the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company, Ketraco.

The Head of State said this was in view of new evidence by local investigative agencies and information from partner states that link the Indian conglomerate with graft.

"Honourable members, I have stated in the past and now reiterate today that in the face of undisputed evidence or credible information on corruption, I will not hesitate to take decisive action,” Ruto said.

"Accordingly, I now direct in furtherance of principles enshrined in Article 10 of the constitution on transparency and accountability, and based on new information provided by investigative agencies and partner nations, that the procuring agencies in the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, immediately cancel the ongoing procurement process for the JKIA expansion private-public-partnership,” Ruto said.

The President directed the ministries concerned to "immediately begin the process of onboarding new partners because these are important projects.”.

The president’s directive was met with cheers and applause from members of both the Senate and National Assembly.

The Adani company is currently in the eye of a storm with the most recent information indicating that billionaire owner Gautam Adani has been charged with fraud in the US.