Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Takeover has started getting tougher and bitter. The Members of Parliament have decided in unison that enough is enough.
In a unified tone MPs harshly sent away Transport PS Esther Koimet and Kenya Airways CEO Sebastian Mikosz for failing to provide records with details on KQ takeover of JKIA.
The MPs last week halted the whole takeover plan of JKIA.
The committee asked KAA to recover Sh15 million that was paid to the transaction adviser – MMC Africa, which was a down payment for the Sh150 million advisory contract.
The firm was hired to devise the takeover plan which has sparked protests among Kenyans citing fears of losing Sh8 billion in revenue.
PIC chairman Abdulswamad Nassir said the committee would do a formal communication to the House regarding the decision.
“We ask the Office of the Auditor General to probe the proposal and any communication associated with it,” he said. In his presentation, KAA CEO Jonny Andersen said the deal was birthed through a letter from the Transport ministry which notified the authority of a Cabinet resolution approving the deal.
The June 19, 2018, letter was signed by Transport PS Paul Maringa and copied to Kenya Airways CEO Sebastian Mikosz. MPs questioned the ‘convenient coincidence’ in another letter – a follow-up, by Infrastructure PS Esther Koimet asking KAA to expedite the request fronted by Maringa. It was on the same date – October 5, 2018, that KQ presented the proposal – fully approved by the board, for a Public Private Investment Partnership (PPIP) with KAA towards improving aviation services in the country’s largest airport.