Sixteen top Kenyan officials will depart for India on Tuesday evening in what has been described as a “due diligence” mission on Adani Holdings' financial records, coming at a time where a proposed lease deal of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the Indian firm has kicked up a storm.
An itinerary seen by Nation.Africa indicates that the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) officials will be departing JKIA via a Kenya Airways flight at 4.45pm and land after six hours at 1.30am at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai.
The officials are expected to take another flight from Mumbai to Ahmedabad in western India, the headquarters of the firm owned by billionaire Gautam Adani.
During the visit, they are expected to hold meetings with senior executives at Adani Holdings. They will also be taken on a benchmarking tour of facilities managed by the billionaire's company such as airports, before flying back to Kenya after seven days on September 10.
The Kenyan delegation includes 14 senior KAA managers, as well as two officials from the Attorney-General’s office and the National Treasury.
The itinerary includes KAA board members Nicholas Otieno Bodo, Serah Njeri Kimani, George Njuguna Ngugi and Walter Obonyo Ogola. Also on the trip is Ambrose Munene Njagi (Treasury PPP Committee), Kenneth Kisembe Ngaina (Acting Manager, Wilson Airport), John Ngare Mucugu (Manager Security Services, KAA headquarters), Walter Agong (Manager Operations, JKIA), Sharon Gatwiri Irungu (State Law Office), Umi Luhindi (Head of Marketing, JKIA) and Harrison Papelo Machio (General Manager Operations).
Others include Meshack Ochieng (General Manager, Engineering), Alphonce Ogutu (Manager Projects, KAA headquarters), Vincent Korir (General Manager, Procurement), Mahamud Gedi (General Manager , Finance), and Fridah Mbugua (Company Secretary).
Rush to meet deadline over deal
This is even as it emerged that the government is in a rush to beat the six-month deadline of sealing the deal between JKIA and Adani Holdings by November this year.
During a public participation exercise held at a Nairobi Hotel on Friday last week, KAA Acting Managing Director Henry Ogoye told stakeholders that Adani Holdings was expected to pull out of the deal if it is not finalised by November.
He also defended the concession of JKIA, insisting that he does not know any ‘bad’ side of Adani and that KAA had dispatched a team of 16 officials to visit India and carry out a "due diligence".
“I have handled Adani for six months. Let us not get emotional. Even if Adani might not be here for 30 years, someone else might take over,” he told the stakeholders.
During the meeting, Mr Ogoye also told stakeholders that once the agreement is finalised, it will be presented to the Attorney-General's office and the Cabinet before it is officially signed.
On accountability, KAA said they would appear before Parliament on behalf of Adani Holdings to answer any queries.
According to staff at the airport, a team of officials from Adani Holdings is already in the country to take stock of the assets at JKIA ahead of the takeover. The workers have been granted temporary passes at the airport.
Kenya Aviation Workers Union (Kawu), through its Secretary-General Moss Ndiema, on Monday issued new ultimatums — including removal of Adani officials from the airport.
Mr Ndiema questioned why KAA had proceeded with the public participation exercise without availing all documents on the deal to the public.
