The Kenya Airports Authority workers at the JKIA begin their long-awaited strike as the Adani Holdings Limited takeover deal hits the final lapse. The strike at the airports has left many travelers stranded and operations shattered as KAWU calls for the rejection of the 30-year leasing deal.
Kenya Airports Workers Union raised concerns over the possible loss of jobs and mismanagement of the iconic facility by the foreign investment firm, Adani Group, and issued a seven-day strike notice last month.
While a section of Kenyans and other legislators have raised an eyebrow over the deal, the government has maintained that the deal is in a public-private partnership program that would initiate its upgrade and build a new terminal to decongest the airport.
Narok Senator, Ledama Olekina, expressed his disapproval of the ongoing process to finally have the group kick off their operations at the JKIA. On his X handle, the legislator said that JKIA takeover shouldn’t be allowed to proceed.
“We have no country here… how do we allow a Security Restricted Area of our country to be taken over by a foreign entity ? How ? Ai! No this takeover of our airport by Andani group cannot and should not be allowed!” Sen. Olekina said.
However, the deal seems to have been ratified and sealed, as Adani Holdings Limited officials were spotted inspecting a section of the airport last week, sending shockwaves to viation workers.
The group has confirmed that it’s yet to start the operations at the airport under the supervision of the newly formed subsidiary named Airports Infrastructure PLC (AIP).
The AIP will be mandated to takeover the airport, operate, maintain, develop, design, and construct as indicated in the deal.
However, aviation workers have said that they were secluded from the agreement table, which is an indication of a sinister at play. They have therefore vowed to strike on until the government acts.
