The High Court has granted the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) permission to file a judicial review against the Kenya Airports Authority’s (KAA) decision to lease Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to Indian conglomerate Adani Group for 30 years.
The blow comes days after the official government spokesperson defended the controversial deal saying it is good for the development of JKIA.
The court has also issued a stay, halting any action on the proposed controversial deal until the case is fully heard and determined.
This conservatory order prevents anyone from moving forward with the Adani proposal, ensuring no implementation of the private lease agreement during the legal proceedings.
This move comes amid rising concerns over the transparency and fairness of the leasing process. Both LSK and KHRC argue that the decision to lease such a critical national asset should be carefully scrutinized.
However, the deal has drawn criticism, particularly from the Kenya Aviation Workers’ Union (KAWU), due to concerns over potential increases in airport charges and a fixed concession fee to KAA.
It is however not the airport workers only who are concerned but also a section of Kenyans are a worried lot.
In 2023, Hindenburg, a New York-based short-seller research company, released a report detailing organized stock manipulation and accounting fraud by Adani group firms.
The Adani Group was also adversely mentioned by the Autstralian parliament in a report titled ‘A short history of corruption, destruction and criminal activity‘.
The report documented the Adani Group’s history of corruption, bribery, and human rights abuses across the world. It also added that the group is currently facing further criminal investigations from their activities.
Another report by the Guardian reveals that the Adani family may have spent years discreetly acquiring stock in the Adani Group’s companies during its meteoric rise to become one of India’s largest and most powerful businesses, the Guardian reported citing offshore financial records the British daily has seen.
The paper referred to newly disclosed documents and said they suggest the family secretly invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the Indian stock market buying its own shares.
And it doesn’t stop there. Adani Group founder Gautam Adani was India’s richest and the world’s third wealthiest person worth over $120bn before New York financial research firm Hindenburg’s report in January accused the conglomerate of pulling off the “largest con in corporate history”.
