Kenyan court halts Adani's proposal for Nairobi airport

A Kenyan court suspended a govt plan to allow Adani Airport Holdings to operate its main airport for 30 years until it rules on the matter.

The high court issued the order prohibiting any person from implementing or acting on the privately initiated proposal by Adani until the matter is determined, according to Faith Odhiambo, president of the Law Society of Kenya, an applicant in the case. Adani didn't immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted outside office hours.

The lawyers' body and the Kenya Human Rights Commission, a non-governmental organisation, are challenging govt's right to lease the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the capital, Nairobi, to Adani Airport as it breaches the constitution.

"Leasing the strategic and profitable JKIA to a private entity is irrational" and contravenes the constitutional principles of "good governance, accountability, transparency, and prudent and responsible use of public money," they said in their filings.

The parties also argue that the $1.85 billion deal between govt and Adani Airport is "unaffordable, threatens job losses, exposes the public disproportionately to fiscal risk, and offers no value for money to the taxpayer". They claim that Kenya can independently raise the funds to expand JKIA without leasing it for 30 years, according to their filings.

Under the terms of the build-operate deal, Gautam Adani's company would upgrade Kenya's largest aviation facility and East Africa's busiest airport and construct a second runway and a new passenger terminal.