Kenya's President William Ruto has announced the cancellation of a proposed takeover of the country's main airport, JKIA, by Indian company Adani Group for 30 years.
The head of state has also cancelled Adani Group's already-awarded contract to build power transmission lines in Kenya.
President Ruto's declaration comes after Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, the chairperson of Adani Group, was recently indicted in the US over alleged fraud.
On Wednesday, authorities in New York charged Adani and two other executives of his company with agreeing to pay over $250 million in bribes to obtain solar energy supply contracts in India.
Parliament address
The said-offences allegedly happened between 2020 and 2024.
According to the prosecution, Adani Group expected to get $2 billion in profits from the Indian contract.
Prosecutors also said Adani Green Energy raised over $3 billion in loans and bonds during this period based on false and misleading statements. Adani Group denied the charges on Thursday.
President Ruto, in an address to Kenya's parliament on Thursday, said his decision has been prompted by the ongoing case against Adani in the US.
"Accordingly, I now direct, in furtherance of the 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 within the ministry of transport and the ministry of energy and petroleum immediately cancel the ongoing procurement process for the JKIA expansion public-private partnership," he said.
Kenya protests
Adani Group was seeking to expand and manage JKIA for 30 years at a cost of approximately 240 billion Kenyan shillings, an equivalent of $1.85 billion.
The deal, which came to light earlier 2024, was widely opposed by Kenyans.
In October, the group had secured a $736 million-dollar deal to build and operate four power transmission lines and two substations in Kenya for 30 years.
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