After cancelling shadowy Adani deals, we must uproot impunity

 

Adani Group CEO Gautam Adani was charged in the US over multi-billion bribery scheme. [AFP]

During President Ruto’s State of the Nation address to Parliament, he cancelled the Adani Group procurement processes - JKIA expansion Public Private Partnership (PPP) and the KETRACO transmission line PPP contract.

He said this was because of “undisputed evidence or credible information on corruption, new information provided by our investigative agencies and partner nations” and to further “the principles” of “transparency and accountability.”

This is a positive move, though the majority of Kenyans associate it to news of the arrest of Gautam Adani in the US on fraud and bribery intentions. The Law Society of Kenya, while lauding the president for this bold move, called on his “government to make public all costs and losses incurred and ensure appropriate measures are undertaken to ensure minimisation of losses to the country arising from the cancellation of these two contracts.”

Rumours of potential “refunds” of billions to the Adani Group paid out “as bribes” are all over social media. We await firm and decisive action by the president on “transparency and accountability” in disengaging with the Adani Group.

If indeed, these contracts with Adani Group were awarded in “apparent impunity… through clear deviation from the mandatory processes prescribed by the Public Private Partnerships Act,” as stated by LSK, then they are illegal ab initio and attract no severance penalties.

The President also appreciated the financial challenges faced by universities and TVETs, from the newly introduced student-centred Higher Education funding model. He noted the “model gives priority to the most vulnerable students, offering them up to 95 per cent government support, while also pulling our universities back from the brink of collapse.” However, this model is not working well.

Majority of public universities, students and parents/guardians rejecting it have publicly appealed to reconsider it, return the previous funding model and introduce the new model progressively in a piloted manner. This model has almost crippled majority of public universities leading to many of them being unable to meet their operational and statutory mandatory contributions/deductions and disbursements even after deducting their staff.

We hope the President will hear the cries of public universities and the striking UASU members and save them from total collapse.

Many Kenyans were happy to see the President “make it very clear that there is no attempt to justify or excuse illegal arrests,” saying they are “serious threats to the life and liberty of citizens,” while condemning “any excessive or extrajudicial action which puts the life and liberty of any person at risk, including disappearances and threats to life.”

However, it is not enough to “urge all Kenyans with information to forward it to the DCI and IPOA, where they suspect the police are implicated.” The President must ensure all executive administrative agencies, directly under him, take “important steps in accountability and justice.”

Kenyans are looking up to the President to end impunity and corruption within the agencies and bodies under his executive watch. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, which also issued the “State of Human Rights in Kenya, Report July 2023-2024,” this week, stated it “documented 60 deaths” resulting from “the Finance Bill demonstrations in June 2024,” regretting that “to this date, no person has been charged in connection with the deaths,” contradicting the President’s statement.

The perpetrators, most allegedly security officers, were clearly captured on video and decisive action is still awaited to end impunity. The commission also noted “the unprecedented surge in femicide cases,” with 97 cases reported between August-November 2024, according to the National Police Service.

Also, the President “seriously questioned the drivers and motives of resistance and reluctance” to actualising the “not more than two-third gender rule,” which would ensure no more than two-thirds representation of either gender in elective and appointive positions.

I totally agree with the President; great political goodwill is required to actualise this rule; however, he can begin by ensuring all appointive positions adhere to this rule. This is because, while he has no control over “elective” positions, he has full control over “appointive” positions.