The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) is not on sale
The government has dismissed reports that the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) is earmarked for sale.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has termed the reports making rounds that the government of Kenya intends to sell the Airport to foreign investors as malicious, false and misleading.
He has termed the authors of the false narrative as enemies of progress and ill-motivated individuals out to create unnecessary tension in the country.
“The Jomo Kenyatta airport is not on sale. This is a public asset, a strategic asset. If it was going to be sold, you can only do it after a full public process that parliament endorses,” Mudavadi told MPs.
Mudavadi, the acting Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning was appearing before the Budget and Appropriations Committee of the National Assembly on Monday where he discounted the reports on the alleged sale of the airport which have dominated Kenya’s media platforms lately
Mudavadi told the Committee that the sale of such a high-value asset is a high stake undertaking and he has called out on the organizers of Tuesday protest dubbed ‘OccupyJKIA’ terming them as agents of economic sabotage
The Prime CS said that instead, there are plans to modernize the airport and build a new terminal after the initial plan halted during the previous regime’s tenure. “What we need to appreciate is that our airport we will need a new terminal which never took off the contractual engagement had its challenges there were litigations that stalled.” he said.
“The Kenya Airport Authority (KAA) must look at its investment programme very carefully, make sure that everything is transparent. So that during the expansion process of the second terminal, let it be done through the legal process so that everybody knows what is going on,” he added.
Mudavadi said the government is undertaking critical steps to ensure the safety and security of all public assets and he assured Kenyans that all the information on the progress moving forward will be made public in order to allay any fears among the citizens.