Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has told off critics over the noise that pushed Adani to pull out of the deal to revamp the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Raila said those who were behind the fall of the Adani deal were interested in a similar thing and wanted them out of the picture.
The former Prime Minister accused the critics, saying they paid people to tarnish Adani’s reputation as they were interested in the deal.
Speaking on Monday during the ODM party Parliamentary Group meeting, Raila said Nairobi has missed the chance to be the hub of Africa because of unnecessary noise.
“When Adani came here and they wanted to remake the airport, too much noise was being made in Parliament for no reason at all. Adani pulled out, now the airport is just kept like this, it is as it is. They were not taking it away; they were bringing their money to work with and charging for over 30 years, so that they don’t charge it so highly. That is what would have happened,” Raila said.
The former Prime Minister said the country needs to wake up and prioritise development to keep up with other African countries.
“Now, a similar arrangement is happening in Kigali; they are building Kigali International Airport, the same thing Adani wanted to do in Kenya. Kigali is going to be the hub in this region, not Nairobi, because of the noise made by other parties, which were also interested in doing what Adani was supposed to do and pay people under the table to make noise in newspapers, shame on them!” He said.
The Sh637 billion Adani deal would see the Indian conglomerate running both Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Ketraco for 30 years.
JKIA expansion would have cost at least Sh238 billion.
President William Ruto ordered the cancellation of the Adani-JKIA deal.
In June, Raila said he was disappointed when the Adani deal to expand and manage JKIA.
Raila narrated that the first expansion contract for JKIA was awarded while he served as Prime Minister, but was later cancelled after the grand coalition government left office.
He said the same company was again awarded the contract and then terminated it following disagreements.
The ODM, who had joined senior state officials for the retreat, said the Adani deal was politicised, leading to its cancellation.
He cautioned that if nothing is done, JKIA will remain dormant while other countries that are expanding will grow into regional hubs.
