Sports Cabinet Secretary nominee Kipchumba Murkomen on Saturday issued clarity on the government’s deal with Indian multinational conglomerate, Adani International.
Murkomen while appearing before the National Assembly’s Committee on Appointments, dismissed claims of the government’s plan to sell the main airport.
According to the former Transport minister, the government categorically entered a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with Adani for the repair works at the airport.
Murkomen noted he did not enter the deal with Adani in an individual capacity but on behalf of the government, further claiming the government had no intention of selling the airport to the Indian company.
“PPP is a very important concept of developing our airport, I want to be very clear to the people of Kenya, I have not and cannot enter into any PPP as a person and I have not in any way sold the airport,” Murkomen stated.
While insisting on the matter, Murkomen reiterated the need for public engagement in the PPP processes to avoid public uproar.
He revealed the private agreement with Adani was not the first one in the country, attributing the construction of the expressway to a similar agreement with a Chinese company.
"The president has said this publicly, the prime cabinet secretary has also touched on the issue. Members of the public need to be taken through the process of PPP," Murkomen told the lawmakers.
According to Murkomen, before Adanai's approval, the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) conducted a preliminary assessment of the company's viability before the agreement was reached.
"Once they do the preliminary assessment, the process now moves to the PPP committee in the treasury but that process has not reached that stage," Murkomen clarified.
Meanwhile, Murkomen while addressing the committee, exuded his commitment to transforming the sports sector in the country.
The CS nominee vowed to make changes within the Kenya Football Federation. According to Murkomen, those who have served for more than eight years in the federation would forced to step down.
“We will not finance any federation that does not follow the Sports Act & carry out elections. They either agree to what we say or we 'greet' them,” Murkomen noted.
Among other pledges made by the CS included working with content creators to ensure self-regulation and drive up revenue generation, rigorously marketing Kenya as a film destination to create jobs for young people and establishing a regulatory framework for the creative sector.
"If confirmed, I will progress with the development of the Youth Development Bill 2023, Creative Economy Bill, Creative Economy Policy, and National Youth Council (Amendment) Bill to enable the empowerment of the youth," Murkomen reiterated.
"I Will ensure the Integration of county government role Into the Sports Act for shared responsibility between national and county government."
