The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is set to get a facelift in President William Ruto’s administration.
Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen announced during a Senate committee appearance of the government’s plan to improve the busy hub.
Part of the measures include a rebirth of the plan to construct the Greenfields terminal which would have expanded the airport’s capacity to handle more arrivals.
The new terminal would have expanded JKIA’s passenger capacity by 20 million, making it one of the continent’s busiest aviation hubs.
The new terminal would have expanded JKIA’s passenger capacity by 20 million, making it one of the continent’s busiest aviation hubs.
It would have had 50 international check-in desks, eight docking air bridges, and 45 aircraft parking stands. JKIA would also gain additional runway.
Why The Greenfield’s Terminal Plan Was Grounded
The project began in June 2011, when the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA).
A record 110 firms expressed interest in supplying the designs and construction works for the Ksh 55-billion project.
However, the procedure was cancelled after the late John Michuki was replaced as Transport Minister by Amos Kimunya.
The Transport ministry then ordered the airports authority to have the tender cancelled and instituted afresh.
This mandate was disregarded, and Anhui Construction, a Chinese company, was awarded the contract to commence building in December 2011. Kimunya later cancelled.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) initiated an investigation on January 20, 2012, following allegations that the contract was awarded in a dishonest manner.
Kimunya gazetted a new steering committee to oversee project implementation in August of the same year (2012).
Stephen Gichuki, the KAA’s managing director at the time, was placed on administrative leave for failing to carry out Kimunya’s direction to cancel the tender.
Groundbreaking Corruption
The project was launched in a colourful groundbreaking ceremony in December 2013, graced by then-President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy (Now President) William Ruto.
March 2014, the KAA board was in negotiations with the China Exim Bank, Africa Development Bank, American consortium AAE and Standard Bank Group to seek funding for the project.
Of the total cost, KAA was expected to raise 15 per cent, equivalent to Ksh.8.4 billion, through a public private partnership. The other Ksh.48 billion the authority hoped to get from the four financiers.
In February 2015, the project hit a snag after new evidence emerged of an over Ksh.9 billion variance in the contract for the new terminal.
Following EACC investigations, the terminal project had been cleared of corruption claims by May 2015, with the anti-corruption authority recommending that the file be closed.
Nevertheless, almost a year later, KAA terminated the contract for the new terminal, citing economic restrictions over a three-year period.
This was after the contractor, China Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation, had already excavated the foundation and mobilized 90% of the construction equipment.
The Aftermath
KAA management was called out by parliamentarians in June of 2018, now two years later, for canceling the Greenfield terminal project.
Jonny Andersen, the KAA Chief Executive Officer at the time, said Ksh.4.3 billion was paid to the contractor as part of the advance payment when testifying before the Public Investments Committee (PIC).
Another Ksh.129.9 million was given to consultants for project supervision and design review costs, while the groundbreaking event cost another Ksh.75 million.
Anhui Construction Engineering Group Ltd and China Aero-Technology International Engineering Company demanded Ksh.17 billion in compensation for contract cancellation in May of 2019.
KAA MD Jonny Andersen, on the other hand, stated that the claims had not been validated and that the authority was seeking a Ksh.4.3 billion refund from the corporation.
