Ruto Rebukes Critics for Opposing JKIA Adani Deal
President William Ruto has taken a firm stance against critics of the government’s plan to modernise Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) through public-private partnerships, branding such opposition as unpatriotic. Speaking on December 2 during the launch of the Devki Iron Ore Pelletisation Plant in Taita Taveta, Ruto reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to advancing key infrastructure projects despite facing criticism.
Ruto expressed frustration with those he claimed were celebrating the collapse of a potential deal with India’s Adani International, emphasizing that progress would not be hindered by such detractors. “Sometimes, when we have people who believe in Kenya, who want to invest in Kenya, such people, we sabotage them, yet the people who sabotage our country, we glorify them as if they were anything,” he lamented.
The President reserved harsh words for individuals who, particularly on social media, had criticised the airport’s development plans without offering viable alternatives. “Recently, I saw other people glorify those who stopped the construction of the airport as heroes. What heroes? The airport is in a tent. Other countries are building their airports, yet ours is not built. What gain do you get when you stop the building of an airport in your country and you lack alternative ideas?” he questioned.
Ruto also defended the government’s initial engagement with Adani International, a conglomerate that was to spearhead the airport’s modernisation, describing the move as being in the country’s best interest. However, the President pointed out that the deal was halted due to legal barriers. “Let me assure you we are going to build a new airport in Kenya. We may have stopped Adani from doing it. I was confident he was going to build our airport and do a good job, but because of the law barring us from engaging with people who have cases, we stopped it. That does not mean we are not going to build the airport,” Ruto explained.
Looking ahead, Ruto announced that the government was formulating fresh proposals to attract suitable partners for the project. “We are going to get a new framework. We are going to work with people who believe in this country to build a new airport for us because that is what the future looks like,” he said.
These remarks come in the wake of Ruto’s November 21 State of the Nation address, during which he directed the Ministries of Transport and Energy to terminate ongoing engagements with Adani International over new information implicating the conglomerate. He instructed the ministries to “immediately cancel the ongoing procurement process for the JKIA Expansion Public-Private Partnership transaction, as well as the recently concluded KETRACO transmission line Public-Private Partnership contract, and immediately commence the process of onboarding alternative partners.”
Mining Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho echoed Ruto’s sentiments, criticizing a segment of the Kenyan population for weaponising social media to malign the government. “This is the only country where someone takes to social media to negatively comment about their leaders and use negative images to predict their fate,” Joho observed.
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Ruto Rebukes Critics for Opposing JKIA Adani Deal
