Nelson Amenya, a 30-year-old whistleblower, has made headlines once again by shedding light on the contentious takeover of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) by the Indian conglomerate Adani Group.
Speaking on Wednesday, Amenya revealed that a dossier pertaining to this dubious arrangement indicates that Adani’s Performance Improvement Plan aims to significantly slash the airport’s workforce. He elaborated that Adani has proposed to the Kenya Aviation Authority (KAA) that they should consider redeploying workers instead of resorting to layoffs.
“Their plan involves a substantial reduction in staff because, as we’ve seen globally, governments often have too many employees who may not be fully productive, and this situation is also evident in Kenya. Adani is asking KAA to permit them to downsize the employee base,” Amenya stated during an interview with KTN.
Though he chose to protect the sources of his information, Amenya also claimed that if the deal goes through, Adani intends to raise airport fees by a staggering 52%. He described this questionable agreement as a troublesome concern that will further burden Kenyans financially without delivering any significant improvements.
“They are poised to hike airport fees by 52% without any upgrades to services. Passengers and airlines are unlikely to see any enhancements but will be required to pay substantially more. Are we still expected to maintain our competitive edge?” he questioned. “The truth is, this is a detrimental deal, and it raises serious red flags.”
He further indicated that there was a significant disparity between the two reports submitted to the Public Private Partnership (PPP) committee, specifically between Adani’s feasibility report and that of ALG, a global consultancy specializing in transport and infrastructure. “While ALG proposed that JKIA should have as many as three runways by 2034, Adani argued that a second runway is unnecessary and that we simply need to resurface our existing runway and add taxiways,” noted Amenya.
“The PPP committee questioned why Adani isn’t planning for a new runway when ALG’s transactional advisor has recommended one by 2035. Adani doesn’t plan to make any changes to our runway until 2028, and even the new terminal won’t become operational until 2029.”
Reports indicate that ALG submitted its findings in February 2024, followed by Adani in March. ALG suggested that although a public-private partnership is a sound approach, the best course of action would be to implement an open tendering process. Their report emphasized that an open tender is the standard method in international practices and is the default procurement strategy outlined in Kenyan PPP regulations. Conversely, Adani’s proposal opposed this open tender process, asserting that it would lead to unnecessary delays.
After a strike by aviation workers on September 11, the government agreed to allow these workers veto power over the Adani agreement, ensuring that no deal would be finalized without their input and approval. In response to their demands, the official documents related to the proposed Adani deal have been made available to the aviation workers, who will have a 10-day period to review the documents and voice any concerns they may have. Meanwhile, Amenya is currently pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration at HEC Paris in France.
