Pokot South MP David Pkosing on Tuesday advised the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) to halt all proceedings with the Adani Group until the Parliamentary Committee on Transport submits a report on its findings on the contentious deal.
Citing an impending audit by the Transport Committee, Pkosing said that the two entities need to be cognizant of the investigation the committee is currently carrying out with lawmakers expected to give way forward on the matter which Kenyans across the board agree is a matter of national interest.
“It is the advice of this committee that because we are going to order a special audit, that you don't do anything with Adani until this committee presents a report to parliament. If you do it it’s up to you,” he stated during Parliamentary proceedings.
According to Pkosing, the final report will be tabled by the end of October. Pkosing warned in the event the two entities fail to heed the directive, senior bosses at the two organisations will be held personally responsible. He however, did not expound.
Acknowledging that the National Assembly was the house with the highest authority to decide on the way forward after the report, Pkosing said, “The house that has the power to do these things is the National Assembly. Aviation is a national function, not a county function and therefore we will do our work as is required by the constitution.”
Pkosing took cue from Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna who had on Monday expressed fears that KAA and Treasury officials were doing Adani's bidding instead of working in the best interests of Kenyans.
“That’s an advice. Number 1, please don’t blame Parliament, it is you people because of a lack of trust. Number 2, you halt any interaction with Adani until this committee submits a report by the end of October.” He said.
The JKIA-Adani deal has captured the attention of Kenyans countrywide since Nelson Amenya, a Kenyan working in France exposed that the government was in final-stage talks to hand over the running of JKIA to the Indian conglomerate.
Different committees in both the Senate and the National Assembly have in the last few days been meeting with different stakeholders involved in the deal including Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi and Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) officials.
By Tuesday afternoon, the Public Debt and Privatisation Committee was grilling the National Treasury CS John Mbadi to get more insight on the deal.
The CS while appearing before lawmakers questioned the hurried nature at which the deal had received greenlight and placed the blame on KAA officials.
As the web of the JKIA-Adani deal continues to unravel, it seems like the intrigue continues to build and more questions still linger on not only the legalities of the proceedings but also exactly what the deal is all about as top officials continue to be mean with the truth every time they appear before a parliamentary committee.
