Cabinet: Fast track airport expansion project

The Cabinet has directed the fast tracking of the controversial Sh56 billion airport expansion project.

Under the chairmanship of President Kibaki, the Cabinet approved the implementation the Greenfield Terminal at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Nairobi.

"The meeting noted that the project should be fast-tracked since it was a priority Vision 2030 Flagship Project," said a statement from the Presidential Press Service.

"The project will also ensure that Kenya maintains its competitive edge as the regional transport hub."

The directive comes just a day after Prime Minister Raila Odinga told Parliament that the Cabinet will have the final word on the matter.

He told MPs that they had no business investigating the work of the Executive, when the process of scrutiny was still on-going within the ranks of the Executive itself.

“There are certain ways in which the Cabinet deals with issues emanating from various ministries. This matter is with the Infrastructure subcommittee of the Cabinet, it has investigated this matter and it is going to report to the Cabinet tomorrow (Thursday)…and the conclusion will be known thereafter,” said Mr Odinga.

The PM made the remarks on the day that the joint committee of Parliament that looked into the matter, tabled its report in the House. The committee had members of the Budget, Transport and Finance committees of Parliament.

Mr David Were (Matungu) tabled the report.

“If the information had been sought from the Office of the Prime Minister, we’d have communicated that the matter was being addressed, and there was no need for a parallel investigation by the House,” Mr Odinga told the House.

Tender cancelled

Transport minister Amos Kimunya had said the tender stood cancelled, but Mr Odinga and Attorney General Githu Muigai contradicted this position.

The PM said MPs had acted “prematurely” in their inquest into the tendering and the questions regarding the purported cancellation of the tender, which has been overturned by the Public Procurement Oversight Authority.

“The House acted prematurely because it started investigations into a matter on which the Executive had not taken any decision."

Mr Odinga also ordered that the chief executive of the Kenya Airports Authority Stephen Gichuki “should not be touched”.

He said the KAA board of directors had erred when it harassed Mr Gichuki, and that for now, the board had been ordered to keep off the CEO.

‘It was wrong for the KAA CEO to be victimised over an issue which had not been concluded with the Cabinet, that’s why I have given instructions that he should not be touched,” said Mr Odinga.

On Thursday, the Cabinet has also approved the implementation of the integrated service delivery in the Public Service sector. 

This will entail the establishment of one-stop-shop citizen service centres and will involve an on-line web portal, call centres, the mobile phone platform and a payment gateway in order to improve the delivery of services to the public by government Ministries, departments and agencies.

The Cabinet also approved the holding of two international investor conferences in regard to the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor Project. 

The conferences to be held in Asia and the Americas will market the LAPSSET Project to international private sector investors.