Nelson Amenya Reveals How Adani Is Sneaking Into New JKIA Deal

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA)-Adani deal whistleblower Nelson Amenya has claimed that the Indian investment firm Adani Group is attempting to rekindle its involvement in the deal involving the country's largest airport, through the back door.

In a post on X on Tuesday, May 13, Amenya, who gained nationwide attention for revealing particulars of the deal involving the Kenyan government, raised concerns about a reported new deal between the government and a Middle Eastern company.

The whistleblower, who had been quiet for a while, resurfaced with bold claims, alleging that the government was planning to transfer control and rights of a major airport to a Dubai-based firm.

Amenya, without directly naming the company, hinted that the Adani Group—previously linked to a scrapped airport and power project—might be involved in the rumoured deal.

Taking it a step further, he claimed the government intended to back the investment using Kenyan taxpayers as collateral.

"Kenyan govt is planning to give the airport to some company in Dubai (being a tax haven it could be Adani behind it) and will use the country’s balance sheet as a sovereign guarantee. We are dealing with criminoos," he wrote.

"If a company has the money and they believe the airport is a worthy investment why would they need taxpayers to underwrite the deal?" he posed.

Amenya gained national attention after somehow obtaining key documents that exposed previously unknown details about the government's plan to lease JKIA to Indian firm Adani Airport Holdings Limited.

In 2024, the 30-year-old revealed he got the documents from credible insiders within government circles regarding the multi-billion-shilling agreement.

Following his exposé, Adani faced heavy backlash from the public, prompting President William Ruto to cancel the deal after it became clear that major transparency issues had been overlooked.

Ruto’s decision to pull the plug came less than 24 hours after Adani executives were indicted in a U.S. federal court over a Ksh32 billion corruption case.

Interestingly, this comes close to a month after reports surfaced that Kenya is heading further east to China in plans to expand the country's biggest airport.

On Tuesday, April 22, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi met senior officials of the Beijing Urban Construction Group (BUCG) International on the sidelines of President William Ruto's China State Visit, with the JKIA expansion the main agenda of the meeting.