Terminal 1A at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. The
new terminal was expected to raise JKIA's passenger handling capacity by
an additional 20 million people. PHOTO | FILE
By EDWIN OKOTH, edokoth@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
The Kenya Airports Authority has officially
terminated the contract for the planned construction of a new terminal
at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, leaving many questions
in its wake.
The decision, which the KAA made public through a Press
statement, is expected to cost the taxpayers millions of shillings,
including payments to the contractor for premature termination of the
contract.
The KAA cited economic constraints as part of the
decision to press the stop button on the project despite the fact that
the contractor had mobilise nearly all the equipment needed to do the
job as well as completed 30 per cent of the project design.
The KAA said the decision to terminate the project
had been occasioned by prevailing operational, economic and financial
dynamics over the past three years.
Tuesday’s statement was the culmination of
long-drawn contradictions among senior government officials who have
been blowing hot and cold over the project.
Transport secretary James Macharia had earlier indicated to the Business Daily
that a decision had been made to stop the project, but PS Irungu
Nyakera said the plan was on but the ‘government had only gone slow on
it.”
China Aero-Technology Import and Export
Co-operation (CATIC), the Chinese contractor for the multi-billion
project, is said to have dug the project foundation and mobilised 90 per
cent of the required equipment, raising the question as to how much KAA
will have to pay them for the untimely termination of the deal.
The Attorney- General’s office said the KAA may not
have sought legal advice before terminating the contract, exposing the
taxpayer to the burden of footing the heavy litigation and damage fees
associated with the legal battle should the courts decide in the
contractor’s favour.
“A decision of that nature with regard to a project
of that magnitude ought to have passed through the AG’s office, but we
haven’t seen it here,” the source said.
Even more controversial was the suggestion that
there was no legally binding contract for the multi-billion shilling
project in the first place as Mr Macharia had indicated to the Business Daily in an interview.
“I am not certain that a contract had been signed
with the contractor. He started the work before we formally entered into
an agreement,” the CS said.
The Greenfield project was to turn the Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport into Africa’s largest Aviation Facility
in line with Kibaki administration’s vision of making Nairobi the
region’s aviation hub.
Termination of the project also dampens the intense
infrastructure expansion drive that the Jubilee administration launched
upon coming to power in 2013.
Greenfield terminal construction was the second
largest project after the Sh400 billion Standard Gauge Railway project
whose importance was predicated upon the projected growth in the number
of passengers passing through the airport.
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