On Sunday evening, President William Ruto denied reports that the government was selling Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to a private investor.
Ruto defended his decision to bring in a private investor to develop the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, claiming that the refurbishment costs were prohibitively expensive for the government, necessitating the involvement of a third party.
During a town hall engagement forum in Mombasa County, the President stated that it was critical that a private company come in and undertake an upgrade, as has been done with several infrastructure projects.
“Let’s be honest Kenyans the airport we have is made of canvas in the middle of the tarmac at the arrivals section.
This is a temporary structure we put up almost seven years ago,” Ruto stated.
He also insisted that the government was making the investment through a public-private partnership arrangement.
According to the president, the investor’s mandate at JKIA would be to build a runway, a new terminal, and refurbish the airport’s existing infrastructure.
He also stated that the government would use similar funding models for other projects, including the construction of a superhighway to Nakuru.
Ruto stated that the government should refurbish the airport because the project had been overdue for ten years.
He also stated that the terms of the reconstruction would be completely transparent in documents that would be audited by parliament and other stakeholders.
The president’s statement was consistent with that of the Kenya Airports Authority, which insisted that the agreement was solely for the reconstruction of the airport.
“The attendant investment requirement is significant and cannot be funded with the prevailing fiscal constraints without recourse to private funding,” the Authority noted in a statement.
KAA also revealed that the transaction was completed following cabinet approval of the JKIA Medium-Term Investment Plan.
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