New Delhi: Following the indictment of billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani by the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over a “massive bribery scheme”, Kenyan President William Ruto announced on Thursday (November 21) the immediate cancellation of all deals with the Adani Group, including the controversial takeover of the Jomo Kenyatta International airport.
Earlier in the day, the US justice department alleged that Adani was “personally involved in the scheme”, claiming he met with an Indian government official to advance it.
The scheme is said to have taken place between 2020 and 2024.
The SEC filed a complaint against Gautam and Sagar Adani, accusing them of violating federal securities laws’ antifraud provisions. The complaint seeks penalties, permanent injunctions and bans on their serving as officers or directors.
The Adani Group dismissed the charges as “baseless” and denied any wrongdoing.
During his State of the Nation Address to the joint setting of the Kenyan parliament, President Ruto announced the cancellation of the two infrastructure deals.
Ruto explained that the decision was based on fresh evidence from local investigators and information from partner nations linking the Indian conglomerate to corruption.
State of the Nation Address, Parliament Buildings, Nairobi. https://t.co/SaBykIUXIs
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) November 21, 2024
“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,” he declared.
Directing the concerned ministries to cancel the deals, he 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-partnerships”.
Immediately after the announcement, cheering and clapping Kenyan lawmakers from across the aisles and the two chambers got up on their feet, forcing President Ruto to pause his speech, as the live broadcast camera swung towards the members.
Kenyan MPs get up from their seats to cheer President Ruto’s cancellation of deals with the Adani Group. Photo: Screenshot from X/@WilliamsRuto.
While one or two lawmakers were even seen dancing a jig at their seat, he repeated his announcement for emphasis.
“Let me repeat this for clarity. I have said that because of the information that has been provided to us by partner nations … I have directed agencies within the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum to immediately cancel the ongoing procurement process for JKIA [Jomo Kenyatta International Airport] expansion public-private partnership transaction, as well as the recently concluded Ketraco [Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited] transmission…”
Ruto also instructed the ministries to “immediately commence the process of onboarding alternate partners because these are important projects”.
The Kenyan President’s announcement followed a section of his speech in which he emphasised that tackling corruption would be a top priority for his government.
There had been public outrage and worker strikes over the proposal for the Adani Group to take over operations at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for 30 years, with critics cautioning over the handing over of a key infrastructure asset to a foreign firm.
In September, the Kenyan Parliament’s Public Investments Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy had asked for a “forensic audit” of the deal.
Meanwhile, the Adani takeover was also being legally challenged. It was announced last week that a three-judge bench of the High Court of Kenya would begin hearing the petition against the airport’s proposed leasing to the Adani Group from December 17.
Additionally, on October 11 this year, the energy ministry signed a $736 million (95.68 billion Kenyan shillings)-agreement with Adani Energy Solutions Limited to manage the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited or Ketraco’s transmission line for 30 years.
This article was updated at 9:50 pm to add and correct information.