Raila Defends Adani Group Dealings In Kenya Terming It A Reputable Company

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has defended the operations of the Indian company Adani Group, asserting that its reputation is beyond question.

According to Raila, the company’s situation has been exaggerated, particularly following its agreement with the Kenyan government to invest in the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the country’s energy sector.

“There has been a bit of innuendo about Adani. This is a reputable company to my knowledge. This company has undertaken many PPP projects,” he said.

Raila emphasised that the company should not be condemned without justifiable reasons, cautioning that such moves are detrimental to investments.

“Let us not ostracise PPP as a concept. It is a concept that has worked well around the world. There needs to be transparency in these issues; otherwise, you risk condemning reputable companies with stories like ‘Adani gate.’ The Adani conglomerate is worth over $200 billion; it cannot be ‘Adani gate,’” he said.

“Let’s deal with issues as they are. If some people have made mistakes, let them own up, but do not begin to condemn innocent companies who are basically doing a normal commercial transaction,” he charged

Raila stated that he has previously interacted with the company during his tenure as the country’s Prime Minister, and he can therefore vouch for its operations and suitability for investment in Kenya, given its capacity.

“I had the opportunity to visit this company’s infrastructure projects in Gujarat, which included a port, a power plant, a railway line, and an airstrip developed from what was once a swamp donated by the government of India.”

“I visited the City of Mumbai to see the electricity projects set up by the company (Adani) where it serves over 13 million consumer meters in metropolitan Mumbai and the industrial hub of Mundra SEZ,” Raila said at a press conference in Mombasa on Sunday.

The former Prime Minister asserted that the company’s capacity to invest in the country’s logistics and energy sectors is beyond question.

“Adani Energy Solutions Limited has a cumulative transmission network of 21,783 circuit kilometres of power transmission lines and 61,686 MVA transformation capacity. The company owns more energy infrastructure than Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania combined.”

“In the City of Mumbai, I visited the international airport that had been up hauled and upgraded by the company (Adani) and turned from a collapsing degenerate airport into a first-class facility,” he reiterated.