Adani bombshell as Ruto defends contentious government initiatives

President William Ruto inspects a guard of honour mounted by Kenya Airforce during the State of the Nation address at Parliament on November 21, 2024. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

As a nation on the edge gathered in different pockets of the country to listen to President William Ruto’s second State of the Nation address, nothing could have prepared it for the shocker that fell.

Ruto, the head of an administration which had just hours earlier vowed to continue with the multi-billion Adani group deals through hook or crook, directed for the immediate cancellation of the pacts.

Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi had just hours earlier told a house committee that the government’s controversial energy deal with Indian firm Adani Energy Solutions Limited will go on despite the firm's indictment in the United States of America over a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme.

By dint of his pronouncement on the floor of the House in the afternoon, Ruto canceled deals worth approximately Sh334 billion with the Indian based group. The country had been seeking to contract Adani for the upgrade and expansion of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and operate it for 30 years, after which it would transfer the facility back to KAA.

Amid sustained opposition from the Law Society of Kenya, Kenya Human Rights Commission and even Members of Parliament, it was also set to enter into a privately initiated agreement with Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) to build and operate major transmission lines and substations at a cost of Sh96. 68 billion, also for a lease period of 30 years.

“I now direct, in furtherance of the principles enshrined in Article 10 of the Constitution on transparency and accountability, that the procuring agencies within the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum 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,”said Ruto.

Wandayi, who appeared before the Senate Energy Committee in Parliament buildings, had said the case in the USA will not affect the Sh95 billion contract the firm signed with Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (KETRACO) to build transmission power lines.

“At the time of signing the deal, Adani had already passed the due diligence tests and proved to have a credible history of undertaking similar projects, Phase One included a document review to demonstrate their technical, legal, financial and logistical capacity to undertake similar projects,” said Wandayi.

Heralding an invigorated fight against corruption, the Head of State noted that he premised his decision on new information provided by the investigative agencies and the country’s partner nations.

The match in the powder barrel may have come after the United States government indicted Adani Group’s Gautam Adani and other executives over their roles in a multi-billion-dollar fraud scheme.

Adani was indicted by the US Department of Justice, alongside his nephew Sagar Adani, for allegedly being behind a bribery scheme involving more than USD 250 million in payments to Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts.

President Ruto also put other arms of government on notice, doubling down on his stance that corruption would not be tolerated in his "revamped" broad-based administration.

“Because corruption is a serious risk to social justice, sustainable development, national security, and the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, I am harnessing our working relationship with other arms of government to encourage the Judiciary and Parliament to enhance integrity and efficiency by adopting digitisation and automation,” he said, adding:

 “It cannot be the case that the Director of Public Prosecutions keeps dropping cases because, somehow, they are unable to produce witnesses. It also cannot be the case that corruption suspects rush to court to obtain anticipatory bail, which shields them from due process and enables them to compromise investigations. There is also no reason for corruption cases to drag on in our courts for years when the same courts are able to determine election petitions and related disputes within six months.”

Earlier, the Head of State, who had arrived within the precincts of Parliament at exactly 2:15 pm before commencing his speech at 3pm, had chosen to take the accountability bull by the horns and address issues of widespread concern among citizens. These include abductions, surging cases of femicide, unpopular government initiatives and allegations that his administration had turned a deaf ear to the plight of Kenyans.

 “Numerous allegations have been made concerning disappearances of people during protests. A number of these cases have been resolved, while others have been uncovered as fake news, undermining efforts to find genuine cases of missing persons. A good number of alleged disappearances have also turned out to be arrests made by police officers, and in such cases, the suspects have been duly arraigned in court,” remarked.

“I must, however, make it very clear that there is no attempt to justify or excuse illegal arrests. I condemn any excessive or extrajudicial action which puts the life and liberty of any person at risk, including disappearances and threats to life,” the President said.

And right in the confines of a House that he politically controls, the President came to the defense of a plethora of government policies such as the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), the Affordable Housing Project, the new universities funding model as well as the export of labour outside the country.

“The shift from the National Health Insurance Fund model to Taifa Care is fundamental and radical in both scale and character. NHIF served a few salaried Kenyans and those who could pay, but Taifa Care covers every Kenyan regardless of their employment status,” he told the MPs further noting that to date, over 15 million Kenyans have enrolled in Taifa Care and more than 60 per cent of employers have successfully transitioned into its framework.

To address the issues bedeviling the education sector, he said his government had hired 56,000 teachers and was in the process of recruiting another 20,000 by January 2025.

He also did not forget to bat for the contested higher education funding model.  

“This 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. The remaining challenges for a few universities like Moi University are related to internal administrative and governance issues, which are being addressed,” added Ruto.

All in all, the President’s overriding message was that the country is not where it was two years ago, evidenced by achievements such as the strengthening of the shilling, a 2.7 per cent reduction in the inflation rate, attainment of food security and a revival of all the 17 sugar factories across the country. Further, he said the affordable housing project was now directly responsible for 164,000 new jobs created over the past year.

“I commit to continue listening and acting, to engage, debate and deliberate with you, and to take your input into consideration in serving you. By design, the Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda is defined by its capacity to elicit feedback in the course of implementation and incorporate the same in making improvements and further progress. With every input from stakeholders, our ability to drive progress increases. By listening to you, I am able to serve you better,” Ruto said.