Wandayi insists Kenya will proceed with Adani deal despite US indictment

Kenya will proceed with its multi-billion-shilling power transmission lines contract with India’s Adani Group despite the conglomerate being indicted in the US over bribery allegations.

Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi has stated that Kenya did sufficient due diligence on the ability of Adani Energy Solutions Limited (AESL) before it was given a contract.

AESL is a subsidiary of the Adani Group, which is owned by billionaire Gautam Adani. The company was last month given a Ksh955.68 billion contract by the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) for the construction of high voltage power transmission lines in the country.

While appearing before the Senate on Thursday, Wandayi said Kenya would press on with the lucrative deal. Wandayi’s appearance in the Senate coincidentally happened just hours after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) indicted Gautam Adani and seven other executives over allegations that it the firm had promised to bribe Indian officials $265 million (Ksh34.3 million) to win a solar energy project in India.

On the matter of Adani indictment, under Section 41 of the PPA (Public Private Partnership) Act, we have elaborate mechanisms for undertaking due diligence. Pursuant to this section, the PPP Directorate, in coordination with KETRACO, did due diligence on Adani Energy Solutions, in two phases

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Wandayi said that before KETRACO signed the contract, it was satisfied that the Indian company had demonstrated sufficient capacity to undertake the project. He further denied claims that the deal was corrupt.

At the end of those two processes, KETRACO was of the view that the proponent passed the test following those two steps of due diligence. We had no knowledge of any other adverse matters and therefore we are proceeding on the basis of the very rigorous due diligence exercise that was undertaken by the contracting authority

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The US indictment has raised further questions about the Adani Group that is owned by the tycoon, following allegations of fraud and environmental pollution against the company in Switzerland and Australia respectively.

Adani is also targeting to take over the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) for a period of 30 years. The company claims it will invest $2 billion (Ksh258 billion) in the airport to upgrade and build new facilities.

The deals have however raised public outcry, which saw airport workers stage a strike against the JKIA takeover bid by Adani. Further, dozens of cases have been filed in Kenya to oppose Adani’s power transmission lines deal as well as the proposed takeover of JKIA, which remains Kenya’s largest and busiest airport.

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