France-based Kenyan whistleblower Nelson Amenya, who revealed the Adani group’s lease to run the Nairobi airport, is being celebrated on social media by his compatriots and Indians alike.
“I love how Indians are engaging my tweets about Adani indictment with so much joy! They are celebrating with us, Power to you comrades from India!” Amenya posted on X on Thursday.
“I have woken up to an avalanche of DMs and tweets of love and support from Kenyans, Indians and around the world! Thank you fellow comrades! We must stand up and fight for our country and economic freedom! Viva!”
Amenya has also faced a barrage of social media posts labelling him a Chinese agent and “anti-Hindu”.
He has responded to one of them saying: “Adani has began (sic) to send his people to my dm. I’m sponsored by my patriotism I don’t need to get paid to fight for my country!”
Amenya’s revelations in July about the airport deal — which Adani denied — led to workers at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport going on strike.
The airport’s revenue is reportedly five per cent of the country’s GDP, and it’s being seen as a national asset that is being turned over into private hands in an opaque manner.
The whistleblower had expressed fears for his safety after the revelations. He faced a gag order in France and multiple defamation cases from Indian Kenyan businessman Jayesh Saini. Kenyan investigators too began to probe a firm he had founded.
In his state-of-the-nation address to the Kenyan parliament on Thursday, the country’s President, William Ruto, called off the deal.
He said: “Honourable members, I have stated in the past and now reiterate today that in the face of undisputed evidence or credible information on corruption, I will not hesitate to take decisive action.”
Ruto added: “Accordingly, I now direct in furtherance of principles enshrined in Article 10 of the constitution on transparency and accountability and based on new information provided by investigative agencies and partner nations that the procuring agencies in the ministry of transport and the ministry of energy and petroleum immediately cancel the ongoing procurement process for the JKIA expansion private-public-partnerships.”
Amenya’s revelations have got a lease of life with federal prosecutors in New York charging industrialist Gautam Adani and others with alleged bribery of Indian officials — an offence in the US for companies operating there.
The Adani group was allegedly set to invest $1.85 billion in Kenya’s main airport in exchange for a contract to run it for 30 years, as well as a $736-million deal with the energy ministry to construct power lines.
Amenya thanked those supporting him in India, and highlighted the protests by the Congress and its student arm NSUI.
He tweeted: “Thank you, brothers and sisters from India. The fight for justice knows no borders!”
Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga — who is part of the country’s current ruling coalition -- told a gathering in Mombasa last month: “When I was the Prime Minister of Kenya, I was introduced to Adani by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was then chief minister of Gujarat. In Mumbai, I witnessed how they transformed a collapsing airport into a world-class facility, and their power projects benefit millions.”
Odinga had attended Vibrant Gujarat Summits in 2009 and 2012 when he was Prime Minister and Modi was the state’s chief minister.
The Modi government at the Centre has been accused by the Opposition of overreach in backing the Adani group’s foreign business ventures.
Earlier this week, the Bangladesh high court ordered a probe into the country’s power purchase agreement with Adani in 2017. It is alleged that power from Adani’s plant in Jharkhand’s Godda was bought by Bangladesh at rates higher than those charged by other Indian producers.
In 2022, an official in the Sri Lankan government told a parliamentary panel there that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had told him in 2021 that Modi was “pressuring him” to hand over a wind energy project to the Adani group. The official later retracted his statement.
