Kenyan President William Ruto announced on Thursday the cancellation of two major deals involving India’s Adani Group, following the indictment of the company’s founder, Gautam Adani, in the United States on bribery charges.
Ruto stated that he had ordered the immediate halt of a procurement process that was set to transfer control of Kenya’s main airport to the Adani Group. Additionally, the President directed the cancellation of a $736 million, 30-year public-private partnership deal signed by Kenya’s Ministry of Energy last month, which aimed to build power transmission lines with a unit of the Adani Group.
“I have directed agencies within the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum to immediately cancel the ongoing procurement,” Ruto said during his state of the nation address, citing “new information provided by investigative agencies and partner nations” as the basis for his decision.
The move follows a U.S. indictment on Wednesday, in which authorities accused Gautam Adani and seven other individuals of conspiring to pay approximately $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials. In response, Adani Group denied the allegations, vowing to pursue “all possible legal recourse.”
Earlier, Kenya’s Energy Minister Opiyo Wandayi had defended the power transmission contract, asserting that there was no bribery or corruption involved in its award. However, the recent developments have led to a reevaluation of the partnerships.